A Dividend Aristocrat is a company in the S&P 500 that has raised its dividend every year for at least 25 years in a row. It is a publicly defined label (an S&P index rule), and it is a badge of dividend durability, not of a high yield.
Twenty-five unbroken years spans multiple recessions, at least one financial crisis, and every kind of business cycle. A company that kept increasing its dividend the entire way usually has durable cash flows and treats the dividend as a promise. A single freeze — not even a cut, just holding the dividend flat for one year — ends the streak and removes the company from the list. That strictness is what makes the label mean something.
It must be in the S&P 500 and have raised its dividend every year for at least 25 consecutive years. Even a single year of holding the dividend flat ends the streak.
Both track consecutive years of dividend increases. Aristocrats require 25+ years (and S&P 500 membership); Dividend Kings set a higher bar of 50+ consecutive years.
No. It is a backward-looking durability badge, not a valuation or forecast signal. Check the payout ratio, yield, and business outlook before deciding.
AAPL analysis shows this metric in context, or browse all S&P 500 tickers.
Educational research only — not investment advice.