Historically speaking, aristocrats were known as a noble and privileged class. Well, in the stock market world, we use the term similarly to describe an elite group of dividend paying stocks, which have not only paid dividends, but actually grown them every single year for over 25 years in a row. And in today's video, I'm going to give you my top five favorite among that list. Now, just a heads up, I will be excluding dividend king stocks, which are 50 years of growth, five decades of growth, uh because I'm thinking about actually doing a separate video for those stocks, too. Let me know if you'd want to see that down below, or even just by hitting the like button here. That'll tell me that you guys want that video as well. But for today, we will be sticking with just aristocrats above 25 years, but still below 50. And one more thing to mention, I know that everyone is in panic mode right now because of the whole tariff situation, feeling like stock prices are going to go lower throughout the year, which is very possible. But the great thing about dividend stocks is that when prices go down, their dividend yields actually go up. And because these stocks in particular have grown their dividends for over 25 years in a row, even through market downturns, there's a good chance that they will continue to pay them throughout this volatility, too. So, at the very least, you could toss these up on your watch list and have something to look forward to if you think prices will come down lower. But either way, these stocks already have actually lost a ton of value and are paying some extremely attractive dividends. So, I can't wait to share them with you guys. Let's go ahead and jump straight into it here. Starting first with stock number one, what is actually one of my personal all-time favorite dividend payers in Medtronic, ticker symbol MDT. Now, this is the world leader in medical devices and one of the most respected in the field serving over 150 different countries with their technologies being used in everything from pacemakers to surgical tools and much more. Of course, at that massive size and scale though, tariffs will likely impact them negatively in the short term, especially on any components sourced from Asia. But over time, I think the US government will likely prioritize domestic health companies like Metronic over foreign rivals, which could turn into a bit of a tailwind longer term. On top of which, I think Medronic will also benefit from a combination of both aging populations with every baby boomer expected to reach retirement age by 2030, equating to one in every five US citizens, likely driving demand higher for Metronics products and services, as well as all the investments that they've been making more recently into secular growth trends like robotic surgery, AI and diagnostics, diabetes tech, and more. Financially, the company did see a downturn coming off of the pandemic highs, but EPS numbers are now expected to rebound significantly in the coming years back up to a record high. And even if a trade war with China delays some of that progress, the stock is already trading at incredibly low levels after having lost over 40% of its value from the pandemic highs and is currently sitting one of the lowest prices of the past decade, leaving behind not just a valuation that is even cheaper than the sector on a P basis, but also a dividend yield that has now risen to one of the highest levels we've ever seen at well above 3% with also, get this guys, 48 years of consecutive growth on that dividend. So, forget about, you know, Aristocrat status. Metronic is only two years away from being considered a dividend king. And I have no doubt in my mind that they'll be achieving that very soon, too. All right, coming in here at Aristocrat number two, I'm going with an energy stock. Actually, another favorite holding of mine in Next Era Energy, ticker symbol NE, which happens to be not only the largest utility company in America by market cap, but also the largest generator of wind and solar energy in the entire world. So, a gigantic play here on renewable energy, which is a growing trend that will only get stronger over time. And that's even, you know, despite any short-term political cycles or trade wars or anything else, as both global and domestic demand for clean energy, I think should always be there. Hence why the company typically breaks new record highs on both sales and profits in most years, which even with the whole tariff situation going on, American energy production will will only become more important going forward, too. And because utilities are regulated by the government, next era also benefits from much more stable cash flows. you might expect from a renewable player like this, allowing them to also pay some really nice dividends, too. Which, after seeing the stock price lose around a third of its value from the top, it's not only left them trading cheaper than the sector, despite this growth stock, you know, usually trading for a premium as a global leader should, but it's also raised their dividend yield up to around 3 and a.5%. which is extremely attractive when you couple it with more than three decades of consecutive growth, making this one of the easiest stocks to buy on any dip, let alone whatever happens here in 2025. Up next though, I'm going with a dividend stock that I've always wanted to own, but I was really waiting for a big enough dip to jump in, and it looks like might be finally getting that this year. Now, I'm talking, of course, about air products and chemicals, ticker symbol APD, which is a global leader in industrial gases, serving sectors like healthcare, tech, manufacturing, and more. And the thing I really love about APD the most, is how resilient they've been with long-term contracts and very sticky customer base thanks to high demand I just think will always be there. Hence the double-digit EPS growth they've been able to average since 2014, allowing them to grow their dividend every single year for over four decades in a row. Plus, there's even some big future potential in new investments they've made, like in hydrogen energy, which APD happens to already be the largest supplier of hydrogen in the entire world and is a leader in hydrogen fuel infrastructure operating in more than 50 different countries. Plus, they're building new plants, too, for both green hydrogen, which is emissions free and is produced by splitting water using renewable energy, as well as blue hydrogen, which involves burning natural gas and uses carbon capture to actually reduce emissions. Both are seeing a surge in interest from the private and public sectors, benefiting APD long term. And in total, it's a market that could eventually be worth over a trillion dollars further down the road. At the moment though, there will likely be an impact from tariffs, especially given how global of a company this is with also many chemicals being sourced from Asia too. Hence why I haven't purchased the stock myself quite yet. But I will say that I'm getting very close to my purchase price here as the stock has already lost about a quarter of its value from the top, raising the dividend up to more than 2.7%. My buy my buy price though uh will be once that yield crosses 3%. That's really where I'll feel the most confident long term. The further it goes higher than 3% the more confident I become in buying the stock there. Cuz really history tells us that anytime it crosses that mark is very short-lived as a stock quickly recovers. The dividend yield dips right back down below that level to kind of correct itself. So uh I do think it can reach that level again this year. Uh and I don't think it's going to be that hard to get there. So, that's kind of what I'm waiting for, but I'm keeping a very close eye on this one. It's one that I I do happen to like a lot. Okay, with that said though, stock number four is already many investors favorite dividend stock. In fact, I get asked about it from you guys all the time. I don't own it myself, but I know a ton of you guys do. and that is realy income ticker symbol O which is actually a REIT a real estate investment trust uh that owns over 15,000 properties worldwide which it then rents out mostly to various retail companies and then shares those profits with investors in the form of monthly dividends which are very attractive and the only reason why I've never purchased them myself is because I just prefer EXR Vich and AMT instead who rather than having large exposure to retail are REITs that are centered instead around storage facilities, gaming and resort properties, and telecommunications, which I feel more confident investing in given the rise of e-commerce and other retail apocalypse type of trends. However, I will say though that if anyone has been bucking that trend, it's really been Realy Income who's done such an amazing job of picking highquality tenants that their occupancy rates have actually never dropped below 96% since IPOing in the early 90s. even managing to grow their funds from operations every single year through the dotcom bust, the great recession, the recent pandemic, and the rise of e-commerce, and the overall retail apocalypse with strong growth coming from their best tenants really seems to always offset the issues from their weaker ones. And it's really that diversification that shareholders think will protect them from higher tariffs, too. Not to mention that if the economy starts getting weaker and the Fed decides to sharply start cutting rates, well, that would actually make it even cheaper for realy to go out there and purchase new properties, which they've already been eyeing new verticals like industrials, international, gaming, and even data centers to ensure even more future growth, which has already been very solid year after year. What's interesting though is that the stock reached its highest levels right before the pandemic, having since fallen by around 30%. And the reason I say that that's interesting is because the company is now doing larger sales and profits, yet the stock price is much lower, and the dividend yield has risen to one of its highest levels of about 5.5%. You couple that with the more than three decades of consecutive growth which was every year since IPO and you can see very clearly why Realy Income is one of the most popular and trusted REITs on the planet. Like I said I own EXR Vich and AMT instead. But if O continues to fall like this, I might have to add a fourth REIT to my portfolio soon too. All right, guys. With that said, finally, we are left here with the fifth and final pick among dividend aristocrats. And for this one, I'm going with the oil and gas giant, Chevron, ticker symbol CVX, who I've always told you guys that I don't invest in oil stocks myself, but if I did, Chevron would easily be at the top of my list for three specific reasons. Number one, they're a giant leader in the space with the second most production in America, which I think benefits them greatly from a Trump administration, who even ran on retaining $35 billion of tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, and especially considering the whole tariff situation that, you know, experts think will cause inflation. Well, what's one of the easiest ways to reduce inflation domestically? It's to drill for oil. Exactly what Chevron is a specialist in. Get those oil prices down lower. Anyway, the entire dominance of Chevron has really resulted in giant financials over the years, which despite all the extreme volatility that oil has seen, Chevron has still managed to generate around 200 billion in sales with a return to growth on the bottom line expected over the next few years, too. Likely thanks to pro- oil and gas policies that will come from the new president. Reason number two though is that the cyclicality of the sector has already suppressed the stock price for years, even leaving it down over a quarter of its value from the top while also raising the dividend yield up to over 5% which is very attractive when you couple that with a pretty good payout ratio and close to four decades of consecutive growth. And finally, number three is that while I'm not typically a fan of oil stocks because of their lack of growth, Chevron is at least investing pretty heavily into renewable energy technologies, having already spent billions of dollars on new growth initiatives for the future, including, for example, their acquisition of renewable energy group, the majority stake they took in the world's largest hydrogen storage plant, their investments into Biobend, uh, which is, uh, one of the largest carbon storage projects, in the country and many more examples just like that helping them tap into future growth markets that could be worth trillions of dollars over the long term. And so in all, I just see Chevron as this massive oil company that can continue to rake in huge profits from that giant legacy part of their business while still, you know, being able to use those funds to invest in future growth drivers like renewables. Granted, it is a global company, too, so they will likely be impacted by tariffs. But as more trade deals get announced throughout the year, we'll probably start to see that concern uh fade away. At least that's just my opinion on it. Anyway, that'll do it for my top five list here. Let me know if you agree with it. And if you do not, what stock would you take out and which one would you put in? Remember, it has to be a dividend aristocrat above 25 years but below 50, not a dividend king. I'd love to hear your suggestions down below and any comments you'd like to leave there. But thanks again for stopping by, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this video. Let me know if you want a Dividend Kings video uh in the very soon future here. But uh yeah, hope you're all doing well, my friends, and I'll catch you in the next one. All right, take care everybody. Bye-bye.