My Top 3 Dividend Kings to Buy for March 2026

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • AbbVie has an extensive pipeline of potential drugs and medical devices.

  • Walmart's growing dividend is a nice addition to its big stock-price gain.

  • Utility companies like Consolidated Edison have a predictable cash flow.

  • 10 stocks we like better than AbbVie ›

Only a select few companies can rise to the ranks of a Dividend King. Thousands of companies pay a dividend -- in fact, they are so common that more than 400 companies in the benchmark S&P 500 issue dividend payments.

However, to be a Dividend King, you have to increase that payment annually and do so for at least 50 years. That means long-term stability, a commitment to shareholders, and a business model that allows earnings per share to increase for generations.

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A golden crown.

Image source: Getty Images.

Currently, 57 stocks hold the coveted title, with the longest-tenured member being American States Water, a utility company that has increased its dividend for 71 consecutive years.

Dividend Kings are a great way for investors to generate passive income or grow their portfolios even faster through dividend reinvestment. These are my top five Dividend Kings to buy in March 2026.

AbbVie

Pharmaceutical maker AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) has for years been generating billions of dollars in annual revenue from its famed Humira treatment for autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease and psoriasis. But AbbVie lost exclusivity for Humira in 2023, requiring it to shift to other sources of revenue.

Fortunately for the company, AbbVie was able to bring two more top-selling drugs to market. Skyrizi, which treats psoriasis and Crohn's disease, generated $5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up 32% from a year ago. And Rinvoq, which treats dermatitis, arthritis, and other ailments, brought in $2.37 billion in the quarter, up 29.5%.

AbbVie also makes the popular drug Botox, which generated $3.76 billion in revenue for all of 2025. And there are more drugs on the way. AbbVie reports it has 90 drug and device candidates in its pipeline, with possible treatments for lymphoma, migraine, and colorectal cancer in phase 3 trials.

That gives investors plenty of security in knowing that AbbVie's dividend payout will continue to grow. AbbVie's streak is currently 54 years, and its payout is a 3% yield.

Walmart

Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) is a global retailing powerhouse, operating in 19 countries and generating $713 billion in sales revenue in 2025.

While Amazon made headlines by topping Walmart and officially taking the crown as the biggest retailer in the world with its $717 billion in sales, I think the crown rightfully belongs to Walmart because Amazon's sales numbers include $45.6 billion that the company got from its cloud computing segment, Amazon Web Services. If you look at the sales numbers specifically from Amazon's domestic and international sales, it still falls short to Walmart.

And while Walmart and Amazon are very different businesses, it's notable that Walmart is making plenty of inroads in e-commerce, which is where Amazon dominates. The company's U.S. e-commerce sales were up 27% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (ending Jan. 31, 2026), and were up 17% internationally.

Walmart has 53 consecutive years of dividend increases. While its yield is only 0.8%, it pairs nicely with Walmart's 46% gain in stock price over the last 12 months.

Consolidated Edison

My pick in the utilities sector is Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED), which provides electricity and gas in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania under several subsidiaries. In addition, the company has a clean energy business that develops energy infrastructure projects that produce renewable energy, and it has a transmission business that manages electric and gas assets.

Utility companies are great sources for dividends because the nature of the business means steady, predictable cash flow. Utility companies also have significant tailwinds as there is an increasing demand for energy with the growth of high-performance computing and data centers.

The company announced plans to spend $6.6 billion this year and $6.8 billion next year on capital projects, including upgrading transmission lines and modernizing the gas system.

"Demand remains for a modern, resilient grid as customers continue to electrify their homes, businesses and vehicles. We are investing proactively to support stable, long-term returns for shareholders and to deliver the world-class reliability our region needs," CEO Tim Cawley said.

For 2025, Con Edison reported net income of $2.02 billion and earnings per share of $5.66, versus $1.82 billion and $5.26 for 2024. The utility has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years, and its yield is currently 3.1%.

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Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie, Amazon, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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