I have invested in dividends for 25 years—These are the only dividend stocks I’d rebuy today

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If you could you it all over again, would you have done anything differently? After 25 years of dividend investing and buying plenty of less-than-great stocks, I asked myself this question. As it turns out, I would have loaded up early and often on three particular stocks that I’d like to reveal to you today.

Actually, these are the only dividend-paying stocks that I would gladly buy again today. I fully expect them to continue providing value for the next 25 years with consistent quarterly cash distributions as well as share-price gains. So, let’s jump right into the stock picks as the first one is a cool and refreshing dividend payer for the long term.

PepsiCo (PEP)

To begin, I’d like to open a can of delicious dividends with a blue-chip beverage and snack manufacturer. For generations, sensible investors have stockpiled shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) and slept soundly at night.

You might not expect this, but PepsiCo actually trades on the Nasdaq exchange, not the New York Stock Exchange. Yet, unlike some Nasdaq-listed large-cap companies, PepsiCo isn’t an overvalued technology firm that’s riding high on the artificial intelligence (AI) trend.

Instead, PepsiCo just keeps on selling sodas and snacks while the trends come and go. Like the other stocks on this list, PEP stock is considered to be defensive because it’s an all-weather asset that tends to hold up relatively well during economic downturns.

PepsiCo’s trailing 12-month (TTM) price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is fairly reasonable at 28.49x, and the company’s stock features a forward annual dividend yield of 3.73%. That’s a tasty yield, and since PepsiCo generated nearly $24 billion in net revenue during the 12 weeks ended September 6, 2025, the company shouldn’t have any problems paying its dividends.

Of course, high yield isn’t the full story as some stocks that pay big dividends suffer from serious share-price erosion. That’s not the case at all with PEP stock, though, as it has ascended from around $38 in 2000 to $150 recently.

Additionally, we can use a calculator to see the total returns, assuming all dividends were reinvested into more PepsiCo shares, over the past quarter-century. Amazingly, $10,000 invested in PEP stock on January 3, 2000, with all dividend distributions reinvested through October 27, 2025, would have turned into $79,555.64.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB)

Sticking to the theme of safe, defensive stocks, I have no regrets whatsoever about buying and holding shares of household-products mainstay Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB). Without a doubt, I would start all over and buy KMB stock today with no hesitation at all.

Kimberly-Clark, the producer of brands like Kleenex, Huggies, and Cottonelle, recorded $4.163 billion worth of net sales for the three months ended June 30, 2025. That’s a whole lot of sales, and Kimberly-Clark is evidently willing to share some of the profits with the company’s stockholders.

If you grab some KMB shares today, you can take advantage of the 4.18% forward annual dividend yield. You can also count on good value with this stock as Kimberly-Clark’s TTM P/E ratio is 16.64x (as opposed to the 40x, 50x, or higher ratios that you might see with some of today’s richly valued large-caps).

Certainly, buying Kimberly-Clark shares at approximately $50 apiece 25 years ago would have been a smart move. Nowadays, those shares trade for around $120.

And by the way, reinvesting all of the dividends from the beginning of 2000 through October 27, 2025, would have turned $10,000 into $45,597.83. Just maybe, you can achieve similar results in the future by starting a position in KMB stock today. 

Duke Energy (DUK)

To really drive my point home, I’d like to introduce you to electric/utilities company Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK). You won’t get much more defensive than DUK stock since the need for electricity never really goes away.

In the three months ended June 30, 2025, Duke Energy raked in nearly $7 billion worth of operating revenue. Suffice it to say, then, that this company shouldn’t run out of capital anytime soon and Duke Energy’s dividends will probably be safe for the foreseeable future.

Plus, Duke Energy seems to be reasonably valued at the moment as its TTM P/E ratio is 20.6x. The point is that we’re not delving into triple-digit P/E ratios and high-flying stocks when we’re discussing Duke Energy.

On the other hand, even if DUK stock isn’t a high flyer, it has performed extremely well over the long term. We all undoubtedly wish that we had purchased Duke Energy shares at $50 in the year 2000 as they cost around $125 these days.

Speaking of huge gains, a $10,000 stake in Duke Energy stock would have ballooned to a value of $97,808.68 if you had consistently reinvested all of the cash dividend payments. I’m ready for the stellar results to persist in the coming years, and I would jump at the chance to rebuy PEP, KMB, and DUK stocks for another 25 years of dividend-compounding magic.

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