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Dividend Growth Screener — Filter Stocks by Dividend Growth Rate
Dividend aristocrats and reliable growers ranked by 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year dividend CAGR. Filter by sector and minimum yield to find compounding income stories before the market prices them in.
How Dividend Growth Investing Works
Dividend growth investing starts with a simple insight: a dollar of dividends received ten years from now is worth more than a dollar today if the company keeps raising the payment. A stock yielding 2% today growing its dividend at 10% per year will return more than 5% on your original cost within fifteen years — entirely from cash income, before any price appreciation. The yield-on-cost concept is why growth investors sometimes accept a lower current yield in exchange for a higher and accelerating payout over time.
The 5Y Growth column is the bookmark feature of this screener. A five-year CAGR filters out the noise of any single year — a company that grew its dividend consistently through 2020, 2022, and 2023 has demonstrated structural commitment, not just opportunistic generosity. The 1Y Growth column alongside it tells you whether the most recent raise accelerated, decelerated, or stalled. A company compounding at 12% over five years that just raised only 4% is worth a closer look at what changed.
The Payout Ratio determines whether the growth rate is sustainable. A company raising its dividend at 15% per year from a payout ratio already near 80% is likely borrowing from future flexibility — one bad earnings year and the raise stops or reverses. The strongest dividend growth stories combine a mid-range growth rate with payout ratios in the 30–55% range, giving management room to keep raising even when profits temporarily disappoint.
For a deeper framework on building a dividend portfolio and assessing payout safety, see our dividend investing guide.
Reading the Growth Columns Together
The three growth columns tell a story when read together. A stock with strong 5Y and 3Y growth but a weak 1Y number is decelerating — the recent raise was below trend. A stock with a weak 3Y but strong 1Y is accelerating — something changed in the business that supported a larger raise. The ideal profile is consistent or improving growth across all three timeframes, backed by a payout ratio that leaves headroom. Use the sort on the 5Y column as your primary ranking, then filter by current yield if you need income today.
Dividend Aristocrats: Why the Streak Matters
The 25-consecutive-year streak required to qualify as a dividend aristocrat is more than a marketing label — it is a real credentialing hurdle. The companies in this screener that have maintained the streak survived the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2015–16 commodity downturn, COVID-19, and the 2022 rate shock. Each cycle exposed weaker businesses that cut or froze payments. The survivors that kept raising did so through pricing power, durable cash generation, or conservative capital allocation that left room to honor the commitment even in a down year. The streak is evidence of structural resilience — which is exactly what a long-term dividend growth investor needs to underwrite.
Frequently asked questions
What dividend growth rate is considered strong?
A 5-year CAGR above 7% is generally considered strong for a large, established dividend payer. Rates above 10% are excellent, though harder to sustain at scale. Mid-single-digit growth (4–7%) from a company with a decades-long streak and a conservative payout ratio is often the most durable profile — reliable enough to plan around. Very high growth rates (above 15%) from low-yielding stocks can be compelling but deserve scrutiny on whether the payout ratio gives room to continue.
How does this screener get its data?
The screener uses a curated list of 50 dividend aristocrats and reliable growers. For each company it fetches six years of annual dividend history from Yahoo Finance and computes the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year growth rates as compound annual growth rates (CAGRs). The current yield and payout ratio come from the Yahoo Finance summary data. All data refreshes hourly.
Why is a stock I expected missing?
The screener only includes companies from a curated list of known dividend aristocrats and reliable growers. If a company recently cut its dividend, its growth data may be excluded because the CAGR calculation spans years where the payment fell. Companies where Yahoo Finance did not return reliable historical dividend data are also excluded. This is a focused quality list rather than a market-wide scan.
Can dividend growth stocks also be high-yield stocks?
Occasionally, yes — but the combination is rare. Dividend growth stocks tend to have lower starting yields because the market prices in the growth, pushing prices up and yields down. High-yield stocks often pay more because their businesses are mature, slow-growing, or carry some risk the market is pricing in. The most interesting overlaps are mid-yield (2–4%) growers with strong 5Y growth rates — you get a decent current payment plus a rising income stream. Use the minimum yield filter to find these.
What does payout ratio tell me about growth sustainability?
The payout ratio caps how long a given growth rate can continue without earnings growing equally fast. A company at 30% payout growing its dividend 12% per year has decades of runway before hitting a ceiling. A company at 75% payout growing 12% per year has perhaps five years before it needs earnings to accelerate or it has to slow the raises. Below 60% payout is typically the threshold where dividend growth is considered comfortably sustainable through a normal earnings cycle.
How do I find the full analysis for a stock in the screener?
Click the ticker symbol in the first column to open the Basis Report stock intelligence page for that company. You can review dividend history and coverage, run a full DCF valuation, check earnings quality, and generate a complete research report. The screener gives you the shortlist; the full report gives you the depth to decide whether the growth rate is real, sustainable, and underpriced.