Up to date on March twelfth, 2025 by Nathan Parsh
The Dividend Aristocrats are a bunch of shares within the S&P 500 Index with 25+ years of consecutive dividend will increase. These corporations have high-quality enterprise fashions which have stood the take a look at of time and have proven a outstanding skill to lift dividends yearly whatever the economic system.
We imagine the Dividend Aristocrats are among the highest-quality shares to purchase and maintain for the long run. With that in thoughts, we created a full listing of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats.
You possibly can obtain the total Dividend Aristocrats listing, together with necessary metrics like dividend yields and price-to-earnings ratios, by clicking on the hyperlink beneath:
Disclaimer: Positive Dividend isn’t affiliated with S&P World in any method. S&P World owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The knowledge on this article and downloadable spreadsheet relies on Positive Dividend’s personal overview, abstract, and evaluation of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and different sources, and is supposed to assist particular person traders higher perceive this ETF and the index upon which it’s primarily based. Not one of the data on this article or spreadsheet is official knowledge from S&P World. Seek the advice of S&P World for official data.
The listing of Dividend Aristocrats is diversified throughout a number of sectors, together with shopper items, financials, industrials, and healthcare.
One group that’s surprisingly underrepresented is the utility sector. Solely three utility shares, together with Consolidated Edison (ED), are on the listing of Dividend Aristocrats.
The truth that simply three utilities are on the Dividend Aristocrats listing might come as a shock, particularly since utilities are extensively considered regular dividend shares. The 2 different utilities on the listing are Atmos Vitality (ATO) and NextEra Vitality (NEE).
Consolidated Edison is about as constant a dividend inventory as they arrive. The corporate has over 100+ years of regular dividends and greater than 50 years of annual dividend will increase. This text will talk about what makes Consolidated Edison interesting for earnings traders.
Enterprise Overview
Consolidated Edison is a large-cap utility inventory. The corporate generates roughly $15 billion in annual income. The corporate serves over 3 million electrical prospects, and one other 1 million gasoline prospects, in New York.
It operates electrical, gasoline, and steam transmission companies.
Supply: Investor Presentation
On January sixteenth, 2025, Consolidated Edison introduced that it was elevating its quarterly dividend 2.4% to $0.85. This was the corporate’s 51st annual enhance, qualifying Consolidated Edison as a Dividend King.
On February twentieth, 2025, Consolidated Edison introduced its fourth-quarter and full-year outcomes. Income elevated 6.5% to $3.7 billion, beating estimates by $36 million.
Adjusted earnings of $340 million, or $0.98 per share, in comparison with adjusted earnings of $346 million, or $1.00 per share, within the earlier 12 months. Adjusted earnings-per-share have been $0.02 forward of expectations.
For the 12 months, income of $15.3 billion improved 4% year-over-year. Adjusted earnings of $1.87 billion, or $5.40 per share, in comparison with adjusted earnings of $1.76 billion, or $5.07 per share, in 2023.
As with prior quarters, larger fee bases for gasoline and electrical prospects have been the first contributors to leads to the CECONY enterprise, which is accounts for the overwhelming majority of the corporate’s property. Common fee base balances are anticipated to develop by 8.2% yearly by way of 2029 off of 2025 ranges. That is up from the corporate’s prior forecast for progress of 6.4%.
Consolidated Edison is anticipated to supply earnings-per-share of $5.63 in 2025. The corporate expects 5% to 7% earnings progress from 2025 by way of 2029.
Development Prospects
Earnings progress throughout the utility business sometimes mimics GDP progress, plus a few factors. Over the subsequent 5 years, we anticipate Consolidated Edison to extend earnings-per-share by greater than 6% per 12 months, which is according to the corporate’s steering.
New prospects and fee will increase are Consolidated Edison’s progress drivers. ConEd forecasts 8.2% annual fee base progress by way of 2029.
Supply: Investor Presentation
One potential menace to future progress is excessive rates of interest, which might enhance the price of capital for corporations that make the most of debt, equivalent to utilities. Fortuitously, the market isn’t anticipating the Federal Reserve to lift rates of interest any additional, with the added potential for fee cuts sooner or later that might decrease the corporate’s price of capital. Reducing charges helps corporations that rely closely on debt financing, equivalent to utilities.
Consolidated Edison is in sturdy monetary situation. It has an investment-grade credit standing of A-, and a modest capital construction with balanced debt maturities over the subsequent a number of years.
Aggressive Benefits & Recession Efficiency
Consolidated Edison’s fundamental aggressive benefit is the excessive regulatory hurdles of the utility business. Electrical energy and gasoline companies are obligatory and very important to society.
Consequently, the business is extremely regulated, making it just about unimaginable for a brand new competitor to enter the market. This offers a large moat for Consolidated Edison.
As well as, the utility enterprise mannequin is extremely recession-resistant. Whereas many corporations skilled important earnings declines in 2008 and 2009, Consolidated Edison held up comparatively effectively. Earnings-per-share throughout the Nice Recession are proven beneath:
- 2007 earnings-per-share of $3.48
- 2008 earnings-per-share of $3.36 (3% decline)
- 2009 earnings-per-share of $3.14 (7% decline)
- 2010 earnings-per-share of $3.47 (11% enhance)
Consolidated Edison’s earnings fell in 2008 and 2009, however recovered in 2010. The corporate nonetheless generated wholesome income, even throughout the worst of the financial downturn. This resilience allowed Consolidated Edison to proceed growing its dividend every year.
The identical sample held up in 2020 when the U.S. economic system entered a recession because of the coronavirus pandemic. Final 12 months, ConEd remained extremely worthwhile, which allowed the corporate to lift its dividend once more.
Valuation & Anticipated Returns
Utilizing the present share value of ~$102 and EPS estimates for 2025, the inventory has a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.1. That is simply forward of our honest worth estimate of 18.0, which is according to the 10-year common price-to-earnings ratio for the inventory.
Consequently, Consolidated Edison shares seem like barely overvalued. If the inventory valuation retraces to the honest worth estimate, the corresponding a number of contractions would cut back annualized returns by 0.1% over the subsequent 5 years.
Fortuitously, the inventory might nonetheless present optimistic returns to shareholders, by way of earnings progress and dividends. We anticipate the corporate to develop earnings by 6% per 12 months over the subsequent 5 years. As well as, the inventory has a present dividend yield of three.3%.
Utilities like ConEd are prized for his or her secure dividends and protected payouts. The corporate’s anticipated payout ratio for 2025 is 60%, beneath the 10-year common payout ratio of 67%.
Placing all of it collectively, Consolidated Edison’s complete anticipated returns might seem like the next:
- 6% earnings progress
- -0.1% a number of reversion
- 3.3% dividend yield
Consolidated Edison is anticipated to return 8.6% yearly over the subsequent 5 years. This can be a modest fee of return, however not excessive sufficient to warrant a purchase suggestion right now.
Earnings traders might discover the yield enticing, as it’s meaningfully larger than the yield of the S&P 500 Index.
Closing Ideas
Consolidated Edison generally is a helpful holding for earnings traders, equivalent to retirees, as a result of its 3%+ dividend yield. The inventory presents safe dividend earnings, and can also be a Dividend Aristocrat, which means it ought to elevate its dividend every year.
Total, with anticipated returns of 8.6%, we fee the inventory as a maintain at in the present day’s present value.
Moreover, the next Positive Dividend databases include essentially the most dependable dividend growers in our funding universe:
For those who’re searching for shares with distinctive dividend traits, think about the next Positive Dividend databases:
The most important home inventory market indices are one other stable useful resource for locating funding concepts. Positive Dividend compiles the next inventory market databases and updates them month-to-month:
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