Dividend Aristocrats are stocks in the S&P 500 Index that have grown their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Many of the stocks that comprise the Dividend Aristocrats are global conglomerates. These industry giants are also mega-cap stocks with market caps above $200 billion.

But there are many smaller Dividend Aristocrats that fly under the radar for most investors, but are strong dividend payers in their own right.

The following 3 Dividend Aristocrats could be attractive stocks for dividend growth investors.

Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD)

Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 1979 as a single-office ocean forwarder in Seattle.

Its services include the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time definite transportation services, order management, warehousing and distribution, and customized logistics solutions.

In 2023, the company reported $17.1 billion in revenue. The company has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years.

On November 5th, 2024, EXPD reported third-quarter results for Fiscal Year (FY)2024. The company reported strong third-quarter 2024 results, with earnings per share (EPS) rising 41% to $1.63, and net earnings increasing 34% to $230 million compared to Q3 2023.

Operating income grew 40% to $302 million, supported by a 37% revenue increase to $3 billion. The company achieved significant growth in airfreight tonnage (+19%) and ocean container volumes (+12%), driven by proactive freight handling amid geopolitical disruptions and holiday shipping preparation.

Expeditor's competitive advantage is the global footprint and an extensive network of shippers and carriers, which produce a substantial value that would be challenging to replicate for new entrants.

EXPD has a strong balance sheet with a debt-to-equity ratio of only 0.3. The dividend is very safe; the dividend payout ratio has not passed 36% for the past ten years. Using Free Cash Flow, the company has a dividend payout of only 27%, which means that the dividend is very well covered with Free Cash Flow.

The company has increased its dividend for 29 years. 

West Pharmaceutical Services (WST)

West Pharmaceutical Services manufactures packaging and components involved in the distribution and application of pharmaceuticals. The company’s products include Zenith Crystal, a medical glass alternative, and SmartDose, an automatic medication delivery system.

West Pharmaceutical Services reported its second quarter earnings results on July 25. The company reported that its revenues totaled $702 million, which represents a revenue decline of 7% compared to the prior year’s quarter.

West Pharmaceutical Services’ revenues were lower than what the analyst community had expected, unlike during the previous quarter, when it beat the consensus estimate. Revenues were not positively impacted by currency rate changes during the period, unlike during the previous year.

West Pharmaceutical Services generated adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.52 during the second quarter, which represents a decline of 28% compared to the prior year’s quarter.

West Pharmaceutical Services’ dividend payout ratio has never been high – the company has paid one-third or less of its net profits in the form of dividends during each year of the last decade. Coupled with the fact that the company continued to raise its dividend during the past crises, including the Great Recession, the payout appears to be very safe.

WST has a low dividend yield of just 0.3%, but it makes up for this with dividend growth over time. The company has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. 

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW)

Charles Henry Robinson founded C.H. Robinson Worldwide in the early 1900s. The company is now an American Fortune 500 provider of multimodal transportation services and third-party logistics.

The company’s services are freight transportation, transportation management, brokerage, and warehousing. CHRW also offers truckload, air freight, intermodal, and ocean transportation.

On October 30st, 2024, C.H. Robinson Worldwide reported results for the third quarter for Fiscal Year (FY)2024. The company reported strong financial results for the third quarter of 2024, ending September 30.

The company achieved a significant 15.5% increase in gross profits, totaling $723.8 million, and a 58.7% rise in income from operations to $180.1 million.

Adjusted operating margin grew by 660 basis points to 24.5%, with adjusted earnings per share increasing 45.5% to $1.28. These results were driven by disciplined volume growth, improvements in operating leverage, and enhanced profitability across divisions.

CHRW has not had its dividend payout reach above 60% for the past 25 years. C. H. Robinson has a wide economic moat because it would be very capital intensive to have new or small competitors to grow a network as effective and efficient as CHRW. 

C. H. Robinson has a wide economic moat because it would be very capital intensive to have new or small competitors to grow a network as effective and efficient as CHRW. CHRW sports a BBB+ credit rating from S&P, which is investment-grade quality. 

The company has a strong balance sheet with more assets than debt, a total debt/equity ratio of 1.2, and an interest coverage ratio of 5.2. CHRW has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years.