We recommend long-term investors focus on high-quality dividend stocks. To that end, we view the Dividend Aristocrats as among the best dividend stocks to buy-and-hold for the long run.

The Dividend Aristocrats have a long history of outperforming the market when it comes to risk-adjusted returns. There are currently 69 Dividend Aristocrats.

The following 3 Dividend Aristocrats have solid yields well above the S&P 500 average, with the potential for strong dividend growth in the years ahead.

Emerson Electric (EMR)

Emerson Electric is a diversified global leader in technology and engineering. Its global customer base and diverse product and service offerings afford it more than $17 billion in annual revenue.

Emerson posted first quarter earnings on February 5th, 2025, and results were mixed. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to $1.38, which was a dime ahead of estimates. Revenue was up 1.5% year-over-year to $4.18 billion, but missed estimates by $40 million.

Underlying sales rose 2%, and adjusted segment EBITDA margin was 28% of revenue, a 340-basis point improvement from the year-ago period. Gross profit reached a record level of 53.5% of revenue, supported by operational efficiencies, cost controls, and acquisition synergies.

Free cash flow was $694 million, up 89% year-over-year, with working capital improvements being the primary driver. Emerson’s backlog rose to $7.3 billion, excluding forex translation impacts.

Growth will be driven largely by acquisitions going forward. Emerson announced it will purchase the remaining shares of Aspen Technology it doesn’t already own for about $7.2 billion. After Emerson buys the remaining shares, Aspen will become an operating unit of Emerson as part of its strategy to build more software expertise.

Emerson’s competitive advantage is in its many decades of experience in building customer relationships and engineering excellence. It has a global customer base that is seeing strong economic growth and that underlying sales tailwind should power results going forward.

EMR has increased its dividend for 68 consecutive years. The stock currently yields 1.9%.

Nucor Corp. (NUE)

Nucor is the largest publicly traded US-based steel corporation based on its market capitalization. The steel industry is notoriously cyclical, which makes Nucor’s streak of 52 consecutive years of dividend increases even more remarkable.

Nucor Corporation reported its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings on January 28, 2025, highlighting strong operational performance despite ongoing challenges in the steel industry.

The company posted net earnings of $287 million, or $1.22 per share, and $8.46 per share for the full year. EBITDA reached $751 million for the quarter and nearly $4.4 billion for the year.

Nucor ended 2024 with $4.1 billion in cash, reflecting its robust financial position. The company has raised its base dividend for 52 straight years. This indicates the strength of its business model and management team.

Nucor’s earnings-per-share fluctuate with steel prices. The company’s previous all-time earnings-per-share high came in 2008, which coincided with the all-time high price of steel in the US. At present, the company is going through a boom, as earnings per share set a new all-time record in 2021, and then again in 2022. 

Even though its EPS declined in 2023 and 2024, it was still very elevated relative to pre-2021 levels and we expect it to grow at a strong clip for the foreseeable future. We also expect the dividend to continue growing moving forward.

Eversource Energy (ES)

Eversource Energy is a diversified holding company with subsidiaries that provide regulated electric, gas, and water distribution service in the Northeast U.S.

The company’s utilities serve more than 4 million customers after acquiring NStar’s Massachusetts utilities in 2012, Aquarion in 2017, and Columbia Gas in 2020.

Eversource has delivered steady growth to shareholders for many years. The company has increased its dividend for 27 years.

On February 11th, 2025, Eversource Energy released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, the company reported net earnings of $72.5 million, a significant improvement from a net loss of $(1,288.5) million in the same quarter of last year, which reflected the impact of the company's exit from offshore wind investments. 

On a non-GAAP recurring basis, the company earned $1,634.0 million, or $4.57 per share, representing a 5.3% increase from $4.34 per share in 2023. Earnings from the Electric Transmission segment increased to $184.0 million, up from $167.0 million in the prior year, primarily due to a higher level of investment in Eversource’s electric transmission system, which is necessary to address system capacity growth and deliver clean energy resources for the region.

We expect the company to grow its earnings-per-share by 6% per year on average over the next five years. The company has a good earnings track record and will benefit from rate hikes, transmission investments, and clean energy initiatives. This should compensate for the effects of higher operating and maintenance costs, and slightly higher average shares outstanding.