Dividend Growth

Top 15 Fastest-Growing Dividend Kings (2012–2025)

Compare annual dividend growth percentages across 15 companies from 2012–2025 with a color-coded heatmap that highlights consistency, growth strength, freezes, and dividend cuts.

Published August 2, 2026 · Updated August 2, 2026

dividend growth · dividend heatmap · dividend growth history

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Dividend Growth Heatmap

Annual dividend increase percentages by company

Dividend Growth HeatmapAnnual dividend increase percentages by company20122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025Avg.1ABBVAbbVie Inc.AbbVie Inc.——3.8%21.7%12.9%12.3%40.2%19.2%10.3%10.2%8.5%5%4.7%5.8%12.9%2ADMArcher-Daniels-Midland CompanyArcher-Daniels-Midlan…2.9%8.6%26.3%16.7%7.1%6.7%4.7%4.5%4.3%2.8%8.1%12.5%11.1%2%8.5%3ADPAutomatic Data Processing, Inc.Automatic Data Proces…9.9%10.1%9%2.1%8.2%7.5%12.3%14.5%13.9%2.2%11.8%18%12%10.3%10.1%4AWRAmerican States Water CompanyAmerican States Water…7.5%11.5%9.6%5.4%5.1%5.3%7.8%11.2%9.7%9.2%8.9%8.2%7.3%5.1%8%5CINFCincinnati Financial CorporationCincinnati Financial …1.2%1.2%2.5%4.5%4.3%4.2%6.1%5.8%7.7%5.4%9.5%8.7%8%7.4%5.5%6GPCGenuine Parts CompanyGenuine Parts Company9.6%9.1%6.7%7.1%6.1%4.6%5.9%5.5%3.9%3.2%10%6.1%5.3%5%6.3%7GWWW.W. Grainger, Inc.W.W. Grainger, Inc.20.6%17.6%15.6%12%7.6%5.1%6.3%6.1%5.7%6.1%6.2%8.1%10%9.1%9.7%8HRLHormel Foods CorporationHormel Foods Corporat…13.3%13.3%17.6%25%16%17.2%10.3%11.8%10.5%5.4%6.1%5.8%2.7%1.4%11.2%9ITWIllinois Tool Works Inc.Illinois Tool Works I…5.6%5.3%11.2%13.3%14.6%19.4%28%12.5%6.5%7%6.5%6.6%5.3%4.3%10.4%10LOWLowe's Companies, Inc.Lowe's Companies, Inc.14.3%12.5%27.8%21.7%25%17.1%17.1%14.6%9.1%33.3%31.3%4.8%4.5%4.3%17%11NDSNNordson CorporationNordson Corporation13.6%16%17.2%11.8%12.8%12.5%14.8%11.1%8.6%17.9%26.9%4.6%4.4%4.2%12.6%12PHParker-Hannifin CorporationParker-Hannifin Corpo…10.3%11.6%11.2%23.3%3.2%4.8%14.3%15.8%2.3%15.2%21.1%12.8%11%9.8%11.9%13SCLStepan CompanyStepan Company7.1%9.4%5.7%5.4%8.6%10%11.4%10.3%11.1%11.5%11.3%5.5%2.7%2.6%8%14SPGIS&P Global Inc.S&P Global Inc.8.7%8%7.4%13.8%9.1%14.6%22%16.4%17.5%15%10.4%12.5%1.1%8.7%11.8%15TGTTarget CorporationTarget Corporation21.4%21.6%21.1%13.5%7.4%3.4%3.3%3.2%3.1%32.4%20.2%1.9%1.8%1.8%11.2%0–3%3–6%6–10%10–20%20%+Missing

Introduction

The Dividend Growth Heatmap visualizes year-over-year dividend growth percentages for each company across multiple years. Rather than showing dividend yield or total cash paid, each cell represents the annual percentage increase in the dividend compared with the previous year. The color scale groups each annual increase into defined growth categories, making it easier to identify companies with consistently strong dividend growth, periods of slower increases, and years that would represent freezes or dividend cuts where applicable. Missing cells simply indicate unavailable historical data and should not be interpreted as zero growth.

Key insights

  • Consistency stands out more than isolated spikes

    Several companies maintain long histories without dividend cut cells while also averaging at least 3% annual dividend growth over the available period. Looking across an entire row provides more context than focusing on a single standout year, helping distinguish sustained growth from occasional large increases.

  • Most observations fall into moderate-to-high growth categories

    Across all 208 company-year observations, the largest share of cells falls within the high, strong, and moderate growth categories. Exceptional growth years occur but are comparatively uncommon, emphasizing that unusually large dividend increases are not the norm.

  • Outlier years deserve additional context

    The largest individual growth observation is AbbVie's 40.2% increase in 2018, while S&P Global records the lowest positive growth value at 1.1% in 2024. Individual years like these should be interpreted cautiously, as special dividends, corporate actions, or other company-specific events can influence year-over-year growth percentages. A single exceptional increase does not represent a company's ongoing dividend growth rate.

  • Missing years are not the same as freezes

    Some companies have shorter available histories. For example, AbbVie has 12 years of data within the 14-year grid, resulting in blank cells for unavailable years. These empty cells should not be interpreted as dividend freezes or zero growth. Likewise, if a freeze or dividend cut appears in a heatmap, it reflects a reported 0% or negative year-over-year change rather than missing data.

Methodology

Each heatmap cell represents the reported year-over-year dividend growth percentage for a company in a given calendar year. Colors are assigned using DividendXray's predefined growth thresholds, distinguishing categories such as cut, freeze, low, moderate, strong, high, and exceptional growth. The visualization uses the supplied growth percentages without recalculating them. Blank cells indicate years where historical data is unavailable rather than zero growth, and row averages summarize only the available observations for each company.

Data as of: August 2, 2026

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