3 Dividend Kings to Add to Your Portfolio for a Lifetime of Passive Income

If you're looking to boost your dividend income, you almost can't go wrong by investing in Dividend Kings. These are stocks that have increased their dividend for at least 50 consecutive years. Obviously, a company with such a stellar dividend record must have solid financials and growth prospects, or it wouldn't be able to sustain dividend increases over several decades.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Philip Morris (NYSE: PM), and Realty Income (NYSE: O) are three Dividend Kings to buy right now, according to these fool.com contributors. Here's why.

A resilient consumer brand

John Ballard (Coca-Cola): Coca-Cola is a dominant global beverage brand that has paid 62 consecutive years of growing dividends. The stock is up 21% year to date following strong financial results in the first half of 2024.

Consumers have tightened their spending, but the beverage industry has remained resilient. Coca-Cola reported a 2% year-over-year increase in unit case volume last quarter, and it also achieved double-digit organic revenue growth and higher margins.

Coca-Cola has a diversified portfolio of brands across teas, juices, and carbonated drinks. Across all these brands, it generates a robust operating profit margin of 21%, which management is working to increase by refranchising its bottling operations. The profitable lineup gives the company a lot of sales opportunities for different occasions, while generating a healthy profit to pay growing dividends.

The company is paying out about 75% of its annual earnings in dividends. The quarterly dividend is currently $0.485 per share, up 21% over the last five years. This puts the forward-dividend yield at an attractive 2.71% compared to just 1.32% for the S&P 500.

The stock's performance reflects the strength of the brand and the opportunities to keep growing over the long term. Coca-Cola's fastest-growing markets in the second quarter were Latin America and Asia Pacific. The stock's above-average yield offers investors great value with more growth to come.

This longtime dividend payer is still heating up

Jeremy Bowman (Philip Morris): Philip Morris might seem like an odd choice for a long-term dividend stock.

After all, everyone knows that smoking is on the decline, but these days, Philip Morris' business is much more than just cigarettes. The company has successfully diversified into next-gen products, including the IQOS heat-not-burn sticks that function like vapes but use tobacco instead of e-liquid, and Zyn nicotine pouches, which it gained in its acquisition of Swedish Match in 2022.