2 Dividend Stocks to Double Up on Right Now

When volatility hits the stock market, there’s nothing like owning a portfolio of strong companies that pay consistent dividends every quarter. If you choose wisely, you can put together a collection of elite businesses that will make regular cash deposits to your investment account for the rest of your life.

The following stocks have an impressive record of paying dividends to shareholders. These stocks aren’t trading at cheap valuations or offer ultra-high yields, but they are rock-solid businesses that can grow their dividend payments for a long time.

1. Home Depot

Higher interest rates have weighed on the housing market the past few years, but the leading home improvement retailer continues to deliver solid returns. Home Depot (HD -1.29%) benefits from massive scale and growing household net worth in the U.S. The company is a financial powerhouse that has paid a dividend for 37 consecutive years.

Home Depot is still dealing with sluggish spending, but the fourth quarter showed demand returning to the market. Sales grew 14% year over year, with comparable store sales in the U.S. up 1.3%. The results indicate growing interest in home improvement following a slump in the housing market, but management noted that there remains weak demand for large remodeling projects.

It’s not out of the woods yet, but management expects recent sales trends to carry over into 2025. The company has spent the last few years improving its supply chain, particularly to serve professional customers, which are important to the business. These improvements have already created more than $1 billion in incremental sales on an annualized basis.

The home improvement chain generates healthy profit margins on its massive $159 billion of trailing revenue. The company paid around 60% of its earnings per share last year to shareholders, with the quarterly dividend at $2.25. At the recent $383 share price, the payout translates to a forward dividend yield of 2.35%, higher than the S&P 500‘s 1.27%.

When the housing market fully recovers, Home Depot should deliver strong earnings growth and more dividend increases to shareholders.

2. Procter & Gamble

Shares of profitable companies that make everyday essentials can be wonderful income investments. Procter & Gamble (PG 0.74%) is a high-performing consumer goods conglomerate that has paid a dividend every year since 1890 and has increased it for 68 consecutive years.

The company’s strategy is to focus on selling premium products that customers are willing to pay up for. In recent years, management has doubled down on the brands that are performing the best. This has led to higher profit margins, returns on invested capital, and dividends.

Its valuable brands include Charmin, Dawn, Crest, Oral-B, and Gillette, among many others. Across all its brands, P&G generated $15 billion in trailing net income on $84 billion of sales. It paid 62% of its earnings in dividends last year.

The company remains on the offensive, introducing innovations across some of its top brands to drive more growth. For example, Charmin, Dawn, and Swiffer are all seeing strong demand following recent improvements. P&G earns a high return on invested capital of 18%, so the more it can invest to improve its products, the more profits and dividends the company can earn over time.

P&G’s history of innovation in household essentials will continue to deliver solid returns for shareholders. It’s an elite dividend stock that is currently distributing a quarterly payment of $1.0065. At the recent $179 share price, that’s an attractive forward yield of 2.25%.