The term “blue-chip” typically refers to the highest-quality dividend stocks in the market.

Blue-chip stocks pay dividends to shareholders, even during recessions, and have the ability to raise their dividends each year.

This article will discuss 3 blue-chip stocks that have over 10 consecutive years of dividend increases, and should increase their dividends annually going forward.

Procter & Gamble (PG)

Procter & Gamble is a consumer products giant that sells its products in over 180 countries. Notable brands include Pampers, Luvs, Tide, Gain, Bounty, Charmin, Puffs, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Old Spice, Dawn, Febreze, Swiffer, Crest, Oral-B, Scope, Olay and many more. The company generated $82 billion in sales in fiscal 2023.

In late July, Procter & Gamble reported (7/28/23) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 (its fiscal year ends June 30th). It grew its sales and its organic sales by 5% and 8%, respectively, over last year’s quarter. Organic sales growth resulted from 7% price hikes and a favorable product mix. Despite the headwind of cost inflation, earnings-per-share grew 13% thanks to price hikes.

The company provided positive guidance for fiscal 2024, expecting 4%-5% sales growth and 6%-9% growth of earnings-per-share.

Procter & Gamble has significant competitive advantages thanks to its strong brands. The company has several category-leading brands such as Crest, Tide, Gillette, Bounty, Febreze, Old Spice, Pampers, and many more. These brands provide Procter & Gamble with pricing power and consistent profits, in good times or bad.

Procter & Gamble has paid a dividend for 133 years and has grown its dividend for 67 consecutive years – one of the longest active streaks of any company. On April 11th, 2023, Procter & Gamble raised its dividend by 3.0%, from $0.9133 per quarter to $0.9407. PG stock currently yields 2.4%.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT)

Abbott Laboratories is one of the largest medical appliances & equipment manufacturers in the world, comprised of four segments: Nutrition, Diagnostics, Established Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. Abbott Laboratories provides products in over 160 countries. The company generated $44 billion in sales and $9.4 billion in profit in 2022.

On July 20th, 2023, Abbott Laboratories announced second quarter earnings results. For the quarter, the company generated $10 billion in sales (62% outside of the U.S.), representing an 11.5% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.08 compared unfavorably to $1.17 in the prior year. Revenue was $280 million better than expected while adjusted earnings-per-share was $0.03 ahead of estimates. Excluding Covid-19 testing products, organic growth was 11.2%.

Nutrition improved 9.9% organically as the company continues to see a recovery in market share of its infant formula business following a stoppage of production last year. Diagnostics fell 44.7%, mostly due to fewer Covid-19 tests being sold. Excluding this, revenue was higher by 7.1%.

Established Pharmaceuticals grew revenue by 12.6% due to gains in women’s health, gastroenterology, and central nervous system/pain management. Medical Devices grew 14.2%, led by strong demand in Diabetes Care, Structural heart, and Electrophysiology.

Abbott Laboratories reaffirmed its guidance for adjusted earnings-per-share to be in a range of $4.30 to $4.50 for the year. Excluding Covid-19-related resting revenue, organic growth is projected to be in the low double-digits.

On December 12th, 2022, Abbott Laboratories raised its quarterly dividend 7.8% to $0.51, extending the company’s dividend growth streak to 51 years. ABT stock currently yields 2.0%.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Apple is a technology giant. Apple stock has a market capitalization of $2.9 trillion. The company has a diverse lineup of popular products such as the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. It also has a large services business such as iTunes and the App Store.

In the most recent quarter, revenue declined 1.4% as product sales declined 5.7%. Services sales grew 8.2% to partially offset the decline. Still, Apple generated 5% earnings-per-share growth last quarter, due to share repurchases.

Going forward Apple’s earnings growth will be driven by several factors. One of these is the ongoing cycle of iPhone releases, which creates lumpy results. In the long run Apple should be able to grow its iPhone sales, albeit in an irregular fashion. Moreover, in emerging countries where consumers have rising disposable incomes, Apple should be able to increase the number of smartphones it is selling in the coming years.

In addition, Apple’s Services unit which consists of iTunes, Apple Music, the App Store, iCloud, Apple Pay, etc., has recorded a significant revenue growth rate in recent years.

Apple has raised its dividend for 11 years in a row. The 2023 expected dividend payout ratio is 16%, which means the dividend payout is highly safe. Apple stock currently yields 0.6%.

Disclosure: The author is long AAPL

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Bob Ciura has worked at Sure Dividend since October 2016. He oversees all content for Sure Dividend and its partner sites. Bob received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from DePaul University, and an MBA with a concentration in Investments from the University of Notre Dame.