Up to date on February 4th, 2026 by Bob Ciura
Buyers searching for high-quality dividend development shares ought to take a better take a look at the Dividend Aristocrats.
The Dividend Aristocrats are a bunch of 69 corporations within the S&P 500 Index, with 25+ consecutive years of dividend will increase.
You may see a full downloadable spreadsheet of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats, together with a number of essential monetary metrics reminiscent of price-to-earnings ratios and dividend yields, by clicking on the hyperlink under:
Disclaimer: Certain Dividend will not be affiliated with S&P World in any approach. S&P World owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The data on this article and downloadable spreadsheet is predicated on Certain Dividend’s personal evaluate, 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.
We evaluate all 69 Dividend Aristocrats annually. The subsequent inventory within the sequence is aerospace and protection firm Normal Dynamics (GD).
Normal Dynamics is a pacesetter within the aerospace and protection {industry}, with a protracted historical past of dividend will increase and regular development.
Enterprise Overview
Normal Dynamics was integrated in 1952 via the mix of the Electrical Boat Firm, Canadair, and several other others.
The corporate has developed over time to enter new companies of the longer term. The largest transformation got here within the 1990’s, when Normal Dynamics began shopping for technology-oriented corporations.
Normal Dynamics presently generates annual gross sales nearing $50 billion.
The corporate’s income stream has been diversified in recent times, and it now not depends as a lot upon the Aerospace phase because it used to.
A breakdown of its segments and their contribution to income is under:
- Aerospace (21% of income)
- Fight Methods (19% of income)
- Applied sciences (33% of income)
- Marine Methods (27% of income)
The corporate’s Aerospace phase is concentrated on enterprise jets and companies, whereas the rest of the corporate is engaged with defense-related operations.
Normal Dynamics makes the properly–recognized M1 Abrams tank, Stryker car, Virginia–class submarine, Columbia–class submarine, and Gulfstream enterprise jets.
These robust companies have mixed to supply constant development for a few years.
Development Prospects
Normal Dynamics reported This autumn 2025 outcomes on January twenty eighth, 2026, beating income estimates in three of the 4 segments, offset by decrease margins.
Firm-wide income rose 7.8% to $14.38 billion and diluted earnings per share elevated 0.7% to $4.23 from $4.20 on a year-over-year foundation.
Aerospace income rose 1.2% from the prior 12 months. The entire backlog is $21.82 billion. Gulfstream’s book-to-bill ratio was 1.3X, pushed by G700 and G800 orders.
Income for Marine Methods elevated 21.7% on the power of the Columbia and Virginia-class submarine applications. The phase’s backlog is at $52.34 billion.
Fight Methods income grew 5.8%. The entire backlog rose considerably on extra ammunition and European Land Methods orders. Worldwide clients, the M1 improve, and ammunition demand are rising demand.
The corporate-wide backlog is at a report of $118.0 billion, of which ~$93.5B is funded and ~$24.5B is unfunded. The agency gained $22.4B in orders for munitions, Gulfstream jets, Eagle tactical automobiles, different fight platforms, and know-how companies.
Normal Dynamics set steering for income of $54.3B – $54.8B and earnings per share of ~$16.10 to $16.20 in 2026.
Aggressive Benefits & Recession Efficiency
Normal Dynamics has a number of aggressive benefits. First, it’s a chief within the protection {industry}, with very excessive entry boundaries. Protection corporations depend on contracts from the U.S. and international governments.
A small competitor would have problem coming into the protection {industry} and attempting to take share.
As well as, Normal Dynamics has industry-leading manufacturers, reminiscent of Gulfstream and Stryker. It has constructed these manufacturers with vital analysis and improvement spending that totals within the a whole lot of tens of millions of {dollars} yearly.
Certainly, that is a part of the numerous boundaries to entry for potential rivals.
Normal Dynamics is constructed to final. The corporate carried out very properly over the past recession:
- 2007 earnings-per-share of $5.10
- 2008 earnings-per-share of $6.13 (20% improve)
- 2009 earnings-per-share of $6.20 (1.1% improve)
- 2010 earnings-per-share of $6.82 (10% improve)
As you may see, the corporate grew earnings in annually of the recession, together with two years of double-digit development. It might be tough to search out many corporations that grew earnings-per-share by 20% in 2008, however Normal Dynamics did it.
One major cause for the corporate’s glorious recession efficiency is that it sees regular demand for its services and products annually.
World conflicts aren’t prone to stop any time quickly, whatever the financial local weather. It will drive ever-increasing ranges of protection spending, the US included.
Valuation & Anticipated Returns
Normal Dynamics inventory has a price-to-earnings ratio of twenty-two, which is above our honest worth estimate of 18 occasions earnings.
If the valuation a number of declines to our honest worth estimate of 18, it could cut back annual returns by roughly 3.9% per 12 months over the following 5 years.
Shareholder returns will probably be boosted by projected earnings-per-share development of 6% per 12 months, in addition to the present dividend yield of 1.7%.
The dividend payout is very safe, with a projected 2026 dividend payout ratio of simply 37%, which leaves loads of room for annual dividend will increase.
Given all of those components, we see whole annual returns of about 3.7% within the coming years. At this projected charge of return, we charge the inventory as a maintain.
Ultimate Ideas
Normal Dynamics is a high-quality enterprise with a protracted historical past of development. Geopolitical danger stays a relentless, which provides the corporate a protracted runway of development sooner or later.
Normal Dynamics can also be a shareholder-friendly firm and may proceed returning vital money to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.
The elevated valuation may restrict the inventory’s annual returns over the following 5 years, however Normal Dynamics needs to be a dependable long-term holding, prone to be extremely appreciated by dividend-growth traders.
Further Studying
If you’re fascinated about discovering extra high-quality dividend development shares appropriate for long-term funding, the next Certain Dividend databases will probably be helpful:
The main home inventory market indices are one other strong useful resource for locating funding concepts. Certain Dividend compiles the next inventory market databases and updates them month-to-month:
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