During periods of increased uncertainty, there’s been one elite type of company that investors have been able to rely on: Dividend Kings. Those are the companies that, no matter what outside market forces are throwing their way, have been able to increase their dividend payouts for at least 50 consecutive years.
In 2026, despite all the pressures they’ve faced from tariff uncertainty, elevated inflation, and higher interest rates, these two Dividend Kings are not only continuing their streak of boosting dividend payouts, but also have positive stock price returns this year: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT).
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The income beverage play
There’s a reason why Warren Buffett bought Coca-Cola stock in 1988 and never looked back; it’s a reliable, cash-generating machine. As of June 20, Berkshire Hathaway‘s portfolio held 400 million shares, owning over 9% of Coca-Cola; the beverage producer made up 9.5% of Berkshire’s total portfolio. With that number of shares, Berkshire will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends each quarter from Coca-Cola.
Owning that amount of shares may not be realistic for everyone else, but it’s just an example of the strength of Coca-Cola as an income investment for long-term shareholders. It has boosted its dividend payout consecutively for the last 63 years, and that dividend yields 2.6%.
Typically not known for stock price appreciation, Coca-Cola has performed well this year compared to the S&P 500; the S&P 500 is up over 9% while Coca-Cola shares are up over 13%. Still, an outperforming stock price shouldn’t become an expectation, as the main benefit of owning Coca-Cola is the dividend payout that’s reliably increased.
Coca-Cola can be a long-term portfolio addition, but that…
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