Why Best Buy, Stanley Black & Decker And Essential Utilities Are Winners For Passive Income

David Kirakosyan

Sun, Oct 20, 2024, 5:00 PM 4 min read

Companies with a long history of paying dividends and consistently hiking them remain appealing to income-focused investors. Best Buy, Stanley Black & Decker and Essential Utilities have rewarded their shareholders for several decades and recently announced dividend increases. Furthermore, these companies offer high dividend yields of over 3%.

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Best Buy

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is the world's largest specialty consumer electronics retailer. It operates over 1,000 retail stores in North America and has over 85,000 employees.

Best Buy has consistently raised its dividends every year since 2014. On Feb. 29, its Board of Directors announced its most recent dividend hike: a 2% increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share, equating to $3.76 annually. The current yield on the dividend stands at 3.86%.

The company's annual revenue (as of July 31) is $42.5 billion. According to its most recent earnings release on Aug. 29, it posted Q2 2025 revenues of $9.29 billion and an EPS of $1.34. Both figures were above the consensus estimates.

"Today, we are reporting better-than-expected sales and profitability results for the second quarter," said Corie Barry, Best Buy CEO. "We delivered strong results in our Domestic tablet and computing categories, which together posted comparable sales growth of 6% versus last year. With our market position, expert sales associates and compelling merchandising, we capitalized on the demand driven by customers' desire to replace or upgrade their products combined with innovation."

Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE:SWK) is a worldwide leader in Tools and Outdoor, operating manufacturing facilities globally. The company's approximately 50,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, end-user-inspired power tools, hand tools, storage, digital jobsite solutions, outdoor and lifestyle products and engineered fasteners to support the world's builders, tradespeople and DIYers.

Stanley Black & Decker has increased its dividends yearly for the last 56 years. According to the company’s most recent dividend announcement on July 25, the quarterly dividend was raised from $0.81 to $0.82 per share, which is equal to an annual figure of $3.28 per share. The current yield on the dividend is 3.07%.

The company’s annual revenue (as of June 30) is $15.6 billion. According to its most recent earnings release on July 30, it generated Q2 2024 revenues of $4.02 billion, matching Street expectations and an EPS of $1.09, beating the consensus of $0.84.

Check out this article by Benzinga, which highlights Stanley Black & Decker's recent short interest.

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Essential Utilities

Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) is a Pennsylvania-based holding company for water, wastewater and natural gas distribution utilities. The company's water business serves three million people in eight states.

The company has raised its dividends consistently for the last 33 years. Essential Utilities' most recent dividend announcement on July 31 increased the quarterly dividend by 6% to $0.3255 per share, equal to $1.302 annually. Currently, the company's dividend yield is 3.39%.

Essential Utilities' annual revenue (as of June 30) is $1.9 billion. According to its most recent earnings announcement on Aug. 5, the company posted Q2 2024 EPS of $0.28 and revenues of $434.41 million. Both figures missed the consensus estimates.

Check out this article by Benzinga for five analysts' insights on Essential Utilities stock.

Best Buy, Stanley Black & Decker and Essential Utilities are good choices for investors seeking reliable passive income. Their dividend yields of over 3% and long history of consistent hikes make them attractive to income-focused investors.

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