Dividend Stocks Screener

Dividend payers ranked on yield, growth streak, payout safety and free-cash-flow cover.

AI ANALYSES TRENDING STOCKS MOMENTUM STOCKS GROWTH UNDERVALUED DIVIDEND ETF

#	Ticker	Company	Sector	ESEN Score	Chg	Yield %	5Y DGR %	Payout	Streak	FCF Cover	Debt	Tier	Conf
1	JNJ	Johnson & Johnson	Healthcare	94	—	3.0%	5.5%	48%	63y 👑	2.6×	LOW	T1	High
2	PG	Procter & Gamble	Cons. Staples	93	—	2.6%	5.0%	60%	69y 👑	2.2×	LOW	T1	High
3	KO	Coca-Cola Co.	Cons. Staples	91	—	3.1%	5.2%	68%	64y 👑	2.0×	MODERATE	T1	High
4	ABT	Abbott Laboratories	Healthcare	90	—	1.9%	8.0%	44%	53y 👑	2.4×	LOW	T1	High
5	ITW	Illinois Tool Works	Industrials	89	—	2.3%	7.0%	52%	60y 👑	2.3×	MODERATE	T1	High
6	ADP	Automatic Data Proc.	Industrials	89	—	2.2%	9.0%	58%	50y 👑	2.5×	LOW	T1	High
7	LOW	Lowe's Companies	Cons. Discret.	87	−1 GDP 1.5%	2.0%	12.0%	38%	62y 👑	2.6×	MODERATE	T1	High
8	EMR	Emerson Electric	Industrials	86	—	1.9%	3.0%	40%	69y 👑	2.4×	LOW	T1	High
9	MCD	McDonald's Corp.	Cons. Discret.	86	—	2.3%	7.5%	56%	49y 👑	2.2×	ELEVATED	T1	High
10	CL	Colgate-Palmolive	Cons. Staples	85	+2 rate relief	2.4%	4.0%	58%	61y 👑	2.1×	MODERATE	T1	Med
11	CVX	Chevron Corp.	Energy	85	−4 oil reversed	3.7%	6.0%	60%	38y 👑	2.1×	LOW	T1	High
12	GD	General Dynamics	Industrials	85	—	2.1%	6.0%	42%	33y 👑	2.0×	MODERATE	T1	High
13	AVGO	Broadcom Inc.	Technology	85	+1 chips +7%	1.0%	14.0%	45%	15y	2.6×	MODERATE	T2	High
14	WMT	Walmart Inc.	Cons. Staples	84	—	0.9%	9.0%	38%	52y 👑	2.0×	MODERATE	T1	High
15	XOM	Exxon Mobil	Energy	84	−3 oil reversed	3.4%	4.0%	50%	42y 👑	2.0×	LOW	T1	High
16	CAT	Caterpillar Inc.	Industrials	83	−2 GDP 1.5%	1.5%	8.0%	32%	31y 👑	2.5×	MODERATE	T1	High
17	PEP	PepsiCo Inc.	Cons. Staples	81	—	3.7%	6.0%	70%	53y 👑	1.7×	MODERATE	T1	Med
18	HD	Home Depot	Cons. Discret.	81	−1 GDP 1.5%	2.5%	9.0%	58%	16y	2.0×	MODERATE	T2	High
19	TXN	Texas Instruments	Technology	81	+1 chips +7%	3.0%	8.0%	70%	21y	1.6×	MODERATE	T2	Med
20	LMT	Lockheed Martin	Industrials	81	—	2.8%	7.0%	48%	23y	1.9×	MODERATE	T2	High
21	MSFT	Microsoft Corp.	Technology	80	—	0.6%	10.0%	25%	22y	3.0×	LOW	T2	High
22	V	Visa Inc.	Financials	80	—	0.7%	14.0%	22%	17y	3.2×	LOW	T2	High
23	NEE	NextEra Energy	Utilities	80	+3 rate relief	3.4%	10.0%	65%	30y 👑	1.5×	ELEVATED	T2	High
24	ABBV	AbbVie Inc.	Healthcare	80	—	3.9%	8.0%	62%	13y	1.8×	ELEVATED	T2	High
25	SYY	Sysco Corp.	Cons. Staples	79	—	2.6%	6.0%	55%	55y 👑	1.7×	MODERATE	T1	High
26	MA	Mastercard Inc.	Financials	79	—	0.6%	12.0%	20%	14y	3.0×	LOW	T2	High
27	O	Realty Income	Real Estate	79	+3 rate relief	5.6%	3.0%	75%	30y 👑	1.4×	MODERATE	T3	High
28	MRK	Merck & Co.	Healthcare	78	+1 HC jobs	3.5%	6.0%	50%	15y	2.0×	MODERATE	T2	High
29	KMB	Kimberly-Clark	Cons. Staples	78	+2 rate relief	3.5%	3.5%	65%	53y 👑	1.7×	MODERATE	T3	High
30	MO	Altria Group	Cons. Staples	77	+3 rate relief	7.3%	4.0%	78%	56y 👑	1.5×	ELEVATED	T4	High
31	VZ	Verizon Comm.	Comm. Services	75	+3 rate relief	6.6%	2.0%	58%	19y	1.5×	ELEVATED	T3	High
32	BMY	Bristol-Myers Sq.	Healthcare	72	—	4.6%	5.0%	45%	17y	2.2×	MODERATE	T3	High
33	PFE	Pfizer Inc.	Healthcare	71	+3 rate relief	7.0%	2.5%	60%	16y	1.6×	ELEVATED	T4	Med
34	TGT	Target Corp.	Cons. Discret.	69	−1 GDP 1.5%	3.9%	3.0%	54%	54y 👑	1.5×	MODERATE	T3	Med
35	UNH	UnitedHealth Group	Healthcare	69	+1 HC jobs	3.1%	16.0%	66%	16y	1.7×	MODERATE	T2	Med

Top 3 Dividend Picks — highest convergence of tier, safety and streak

JNJ

Score 94 · T1 King · 63-year streak · Safe · Yield 3.0%

Top convergence for another consecutive edition, and this period it earns the slot for a specific reason: it needed no adjustment in a week when almost everything else did. Free-cash-flow cover around 2.6×, payout near 48%, low debt, 63 years of increases. The rate regime inverted, energy reversed and cyclicals softened — none of which touches a balance sheet like this one. Supportive datum this period: healthcare added 22,000 jobs in July, the strongest of any industry. Key risk: the talc litigation tail and pharma patent timing, both unchanged.

FCF 2.6×63-year streakPayout 48%Low debt

Score 91 · T1 King · 64-year streak · Safe · Yield 3.1%

Held at 91 on the beat-and-raise confirmed last period, with the consumer staples sector moving in sympathy — genuine sector-wide rather than single-name validation. The 64-year streak, 2.0× cover and 68% payout are unchanged. Worth naming the one soft spot honestly: at a 68% payout this is the highest distribution ratio among the T1 Kings in the top ten, which limits how fast the dividend can grow out of its current yield. Quality is not the question; growth runway is.

Beat and raise64-year streakPayout 68%

NEE

Score 80 · T2 Growth · 30-year streak · Watch · Yield 3.4% · +3 this period

The most improved name in the screen, included here specifically to show what changed. A regulated utility with elevated debt and 1.5× cover is the most rate-sensitive profile in the table — which is why it was marked down last period on the 30-year’s 2007-era high, and why it gains most now that September hike odds fell from 55% to 44%. Paired with 10% dividend growth, it is the clearest expression of the rate reversal. Key risk stated plainly: nothing improved at the company. If the next inflation print revives the hike case, this reverses first and hardest — hence Watch, not Safe.

DGR 10%FCF 1.5×Elevated debtRate relief

Tier Breakdown

Tier	Count	Definition	Tickers
T1 — Aristocrats and Kings	17	25 years or more of consecutive increases — the safety core	JNJ · PG · KO · ABT · ITW · ADP · LOW · EMR · MCD · CL · CVX · GD · WMT · XOM · CAT · PEP · SYY
T2 — Dividend Growth	11	10 to 24 years, with higher growth rates	AVGO · HD · TXN · LMT · MSFT · V · NEE · ABBV · MA · MRK · UNH
T3 — Dividend Income	5	Higher current-yield focus	O · KMB · VZ · BMY · TGT
T4 — High-Yield Watch	2	Monitoring required	MO · PFE

Yield Band Distribution

Yield band	Count	Rate sensitivity — direction reversed this period
Under 2%	8	Low. Quality-growth tilt, insulated in either rate regime.
2 to 3.5%	16	Low. The Aristocrat core; needed the fewest adjustments this period.
3.5 to 5%	7	Moderate. Split: CVX marked down on the oil reversal, KMB up on rate relief.
Over 5%	4	High — the most improved band. O, MO, VZ and PFE all gained 3 points as hike odds fell to 44%.

Dividend Safety Analysis — coverage did not change this period

Ticker	FCF cover	Payout	Debt	Streak	Verdict
MCD	2.2×	56%	Elevated	49y	Watch
PEP	1.7×	70%	Moderate	53y	Watch
TXN	1.6×	70%	Moderate	21y	Watch
LMT	1.9×	48%	Moderate	23y	Watch
NEE	1.5×	65%	Elevated	30y	Watch
ABBV	1.8×	62%	Elevated	13y	Watch
SYY	1.7×	55%	Moderate	55y	Watch
O	1.4×	75%	Moderate	30y	Watch
KMB	1.7×	65%	Moderate	53y	Watch
MO	1.5×	78%	Elevated	56y	Watch
VZ	1.5×	58%	Elevated	19y	Watch
PFE	1.6×	60%	Elevated	16y	Watch
TGT	1.5×	54%	Moderate	54y	Watch
UNH	1.7×	66%	Moderate	16y	Watch

Fourteen names carry a Watch verdict above; the remaining 21 are Safe — free-cash-flow cover at or above 2.0×, payout at or below 60%, debt low or moderate, and a streak of ten years or more. There are no Risk names. The critical point this period: not a single safety verdict changed, because free-cash-flow cover, payout ratios and balance sheets are functions of company cash flow — and no company in this table reported a fresh quarter. Every score change in the ranked table is a macro adjustment: the rate path, the energy reversal, or GDP deceleration. The safety column is deliberately insulated from all of it. A screen whose safety ratings moved with the ten-year would not be measuring safety.

Change Log — 3 to 7 August 2026

Regime whipsaw, round three: this is now a documented pattern rather than an event, and it is worth stating plainly. Two editions ago cooling CPI gave bond proxies relief. Last edition the 30-year hit its highest since 2007 and that relief was withdrawn. This period it came back: the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July against expectations near 86,000, September hike odds fell from 55% to 44%, and money markets stopped pricing any 2026 hike before December. The rate input to this screen has now reversed direction three editions running — which is itself the most useful conclusion here: a dividend thesis that depends on the rate path is not a thesis, it is a position.

Upgraded on rate relief (6): O (76 to 79), NEE (77 to 80), MO (74 to 77), VZ (72 to 75), KMB (76 to 78), PFE (68 to 71). These reverse the three-point adjustments applied last edition. No company-level change occurred for any of them — disclosed as pure discount-rate adjustments. CL also gains two on the same logic.

Downgraded on energy reversal (2): CVX (89 to 85) and XOM (87 to 84). Energy became the weakest S&P sector this period, down over 2%, as crude fell on White House signals of a possible Iran agreement — no deal announced. Chevron lost about 5%. Critically, both keep their Safe rating: Chevron’s $8B debt paydown and coverage improvement are structural and permanent, while the oil price that inflated the earnings is not. The score reflects the reversible part; the safety rating reflects the durable part.

Downgraded on demand (4): LOW (88 to 87), CAT (85 to 83), HD (82 to 81), TGT (70 to 69). Q2 GDP grew at a 1.5% annualised rate, down from 2.1%, with payrolls contracting. These are the four most cycle-exposed payers in the screen; the trims are small because their coverage is intact, but the demand backdrop underneath them genuinely softened.

Small relief (2): AVGO (84 to 85) and TXN (80 to 81) as the semiconductor complex rose more than 7% this period after its worst month in over fifteen years. Kept small deliberately: the complex entered that week down roughly 15% since 1 July.

Housekeeping — count corrections: two tallies in the prior edition did not reconcile and are fixed here. The safety split was stated as 20 Safe and 15 Watch in one place and 18 Safe in another; the correct figures against the table are 21 Safe and 14 Watch. Separately, ExxonMobil at a 3.4% yield was tagged in the 3.5–5% band; it belongs in 2–3.5%, which changes those two bands to 16 and 7. All band and tier counts in this edition were recomputed from the table rather than carried forward.

Next gate: inflation data lands next and is by broad consensus the deciding input for September. Inflation remains at 3.5% while hiring contracts — the combination that would force the Fed to choose. For this screen specifically, that print determines whether the six rate-relief upgrades above hold or reverse for a fourth consecutive edition.

Exclusions — did not pass hard filters

Ticker	Reason excluded
UWMC	Newly relevant this period: fell roughly 25% after missing earnings and suspending its quarterly dividend. A live demonstration of this screen’s core premise — a falling rate path did not rescue a rate-sensitive payer with thin coverage. It never qualified here; noted because it is exactly the outcome the safety framework screens for.
WEN	Withdrew its 2026 outlook entirely despite beating on earnings and revenue — forward payout capacity cannot be assessed against withdrawn guidance.
WBA	Dividend cut in 2024 plus a multi-year decline — a yield trap, removed from the Aristocrats.
MMM	Consecutive-increase streak broken by the 2024 Solventum spin-off.
KVUE	Pending acquisition by Kimberly-Clark — capital-action disqualification.
INTC	Dividend reduced or suspended with free-cash-flow cover below the safety floor — unchanged by this period’s chip-complex rebound.
T · F	Streak reset by prior cuts; both rebuilding and below the tier floor.

Confidence Footnotes

A note on what actually moved this period: no company in this table reported a fresh quarter. Every score change is a macro adjustment — the rate path, the energy reversal, or GDP deceleration. Dividend fundamentals move on quarterly reporting cycles, not weekly, and this edition does not pretend otherwise.

O · NEE · MO · VZ · PFE · KMB · CL — upgraded on rate relief alone. Coverage unchanged; these seven reverse first and fastest if the next inflation print revives the hike case. This is the third consecutive edition in which this cohort has been re-scored on the rate path.

CVX · XOM — High-quality data, score marked down, safety rating held at Safe. The Q2 beats and Chevron’s $8B debt paydown were verified and are structural; the commodity price that amplified them reversed. Separating those two is the entire point of the distinction.

LOW · CAT · HD · TGT — small trims on the demand backdrop, with GDP at 1.5% annualised and payrolls down 23,000. Coverage is intact for all four; these are cyclical-exposure flags, not safety downgrades.

AVGO · TXN — small relief on the chip complex’s 7%-plus week, kept deliberately modest given the complex is still well below its early-July level.

JNJ · PG · ABT · ITW · ADP · MSFT · V · MA — unchanged. In a period where the rate call inverted, energy reversed and cyclicals softened, these names required no adjustment at all. That is the property worth paying for in this screen.

Season-wide context: 86% of reporting S&P 500 companies beat EPS estimates, the highest rate since Q2 2021 — but excluding Alphabet’s and Amazon’s one-time investment gains, the surprise magnitude falls from 29.2% to 10.9%. “The season was strong” is a weaker argument for any individual holding than the headline suggests.

Market Context

The rate input to this screen reversed for the third consecutive edition. The economy lost 23,000 jobs in July against expectations near 86,000, with May and June revised down a combined 103,000 and the twelve-month hiring average falling to 34,000. Unemployment fell to 4.1% only because 264,000 people left the labour force, pushing participation to 61.4%, a five-year low. September rate-hike odds fell from 55% to 44%, and money markets stopped pricing any 2026 hike before December.

For dividend investors that reverses last edition’s headwind: the bond-proxy cohort — REITs, telecom, tobacco, utilities and high-yield pharma — regains the relative-appeal ground it lost when the 30-year hit its highest level since 2007. Energy moved the other way, from beat-driven strength to the weakest S&P sector, down over 2%, as crude fell on White House signals of a possible Iran agreement with no deal announced.

Meanwhile the S&P closed at a record 7,757.64, up 3.6%, gold pushed above $4,400 with miners the top industry group, and Q2 GDP slowed to a 1.5% annualised rate from 2.1% — a softening demand backdrop for the screen’s cyclical payers. The durable conclusion after three consecutive reversals: coverage, payout discipline and balance-sheet strength are the only inputs here that have not changed direction, and they are the only ones that determine whether a dividend actually gets paid.

What this run shows

This dividend screener ranks US payers on the durability of the payment rather than the size of the yield. Free-cash-flow cover, payout ratio, debt level and the length of the consecutive-increase streak drive the safety verdict, while tier classification separates 25-year Aristocrats and Kings from faster-growing younger payers and from higher-yield names that need monitoring. A high yield never lifts a score on its own: yield-trap detection screens for payouts above 90%, cover below 1.2× and any recent cut.

The week of 3–7 August produced the third consecutive reversal of the rate input. A negative payrolls print cut September hike odds from 55% to 44%, and six bond-proxy names were upgraded on that alone — Realty Income (O) to 79, NextEra (NEE) to 80, Altria (MO) to 77 — reversing the trims applied last edition, with no company-level change whatsoever. Chevron (CVX) and ExxonMobil (XOM) moved the other way on the energy reversal, dropping four and three points respectively while keeping their Safe ratings, because the $8B debt paydown behind them is structural and the oil price that amplified the earnings is not.

The most important line in this run is the one that did not move: not a single safety verdict changed, since no company in the table reported a fresh quarter. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) holds the top score at 94 for precisely that reason — 2.6× cover, a 48% payout and 63 years of increases needed no adjustment in a week when the rate call, the energy sector and the cyclical backdrop all moved. After three consecutive whipsaws, that is the conclusion worth keeping: coverage and payout discipline are the only inputs here that have not changed direction. This is a systematic starting point for research, not a recommendation to act.

Updated 13 August 2026 · Dividend declarations, yields and payout ratios from the latest filings; regime and catalyst context verified through the 7 August 2026 close · 35 ranked names

What does the ESEN dividend score measure?

It measures whether a dividend is likely to keep being paid and raised, not how large it is today. The inputs are free-cash-flow cover, payout ratio, debt level, streak length and dividend growth rate. A 7% yield with 1.2× cover scores below a 2% yield with 3× cover, because the screen ranks durability rather than current income.

What is the difference between the T1, T2, T3 and T4 tiers?

T1 covers Dividend Aristocrats and Kings with 25 or more consecutive years of increases — the safety core. T2 covers payers with 10 to 24 years and typically faster growth rates. T3 is income-focused with higher current yields. T4 is a high-yield watch tier where the payment requires active monitoring rather than assumed continuity.

How is FCF cover calculated and what is a safe level?

Free-cash-flow cover divides trailing twelve-month free cash flow by total dividends paid. Cover at or above 2.0× means the company generates twice the cash it distributes, leaving room for a downturn. Below 1.5× the margin is thin enough that one weak year could force a choice between the dividend and the balance sheet.

What is a dividend yield trap?

A yield trap is a high headline yield produced by a falling share price rather than a rising payment, where the dividend itself is at risk. Detection screens for yields above 7% paired with payouts above 90%, yields above 5% with cover below 1.2×, and any recent cut or suspension. A suspended dividend disqualifies a name outright.

Why do safety ratings stay fixed when scores change?

Because scores and safety measure different things. A score reflects overall attractiveness including macro context; a safety verdict reflects only the company’s ability to fund the payment. Cover, payout and debt come from quarterly cash flow, so they cannot move on a change in the rate path. A safety rating that tracked the ten-year would not be measuring safety.

How often is this dividend screen updated?

The screen is rebuilt weekly, though dividend fundamentals update on quarterly reporting cycles. In weeks where no company in the table reports, every score change is a macro adjustment and the change log states that explicitly. Streaks are verified to the year against Aristocrat and King index records rather than carried forward.

Data sources: Dividend Aristocrats and Kings index records · company dividend declarations and 10-K/10-Q filings · company earnings releases (Chevron, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, AbbVie, Colgate-Palmolive, PepsiCo) · FactSet Earnings Insight (7 August 2026) · CNBC · TheStreet · Charles Schwab Market Update · Bloomberg · Reuters · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Bureau of Economic Analysis (Q2 GDP) · CME FedWatch.
Methodology: quality-dividend framework — tier classification (T1 Aristocrat or King at 25 years or more, T2 Growth at 10 to 24 years, T3 Income, T4 High-Yield Watch). Safety scoring uses free-cash-flow cover (trailing twelve-month free cash flow divided by dividends), payout ratio, debt level and streak length, and is deliberately insulated from rate and price moves. Yield-trap detection screens for yields above 7% with payouts above 90%, yields above 5% with cover below 1.2×, and recent cuts. Streak, payout, cover and debt reflect the most recently verified filings within a 90-day freshness window; score adjustments reflect this period’s verified macro developments. All tier, band and safety counts are recomputed from the ranked table each edition rather than carried forward.
Data freshness: dividend declarations, yields and payout ratios from the latest filings within 90 days. Streaks verified to the year against Aristocrat and King records. Regime and catalyst context verified through the 7 August 2026 close; published 13 August 2026. Yields move with price — confirm live values before any action.

For informational and educational purposes only. This is a systematic data output, not investment advice. ESEN Analytics Systems is a research and analytics SaaS platform.