3 Dividend Growth Stocks Quietly Raising Payouts

With market volatility at the top of many investors' minds, now might be an opportune time to shift toward a more defensive investment posture. Dividend stocks can be a safer bet during difficult environments, and dividend growth names stand out above all—companies that have a multi-year history of dividend increases tend to represent stable industries and names that could withstand external pressures in many cases.

Looking beyond some of the biggest contenders in the list of Dividend Aristocrats, investors might find a number of other names that can offer not only quiet and steady increases to dividend distributions, but also a track record of—or the potential for future—share price appreciation. Even if the market sours and shares sink, the dividend trajectory of the companies below provides a compelling reason to consider them in a more defensive portfolio.

Broadcom: An AI Leader With Momentum and a Surprise Dividend

One of the largest publicly traded companies in the world, investors likely know Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) for its semiconductor business and key positioning in the cloud and AI races—shares have rallied by more than 68% in the last year. Continued demand for Broadcom's AI hardware may continue to fuel growth, as analysts expect an additional 37% upside potential even after last year's gains.

What investors may not know, however, is that Broadcom is also a steady dividend payer with 15 years of history of dividend increases.

With a dividend yield of 0.82%, the company may not give dividend investors the most bang for their buck compared to some high-yield alternatives, but that's not the reason most investors are drawn to this firm. Indeed, the dividend may be a welcome surprise for many or at least a helpful bonus.

With AI revenue for the last year up 60% year-over-year (YOY) and only likely to accelerate in future earnings reports, Broadcom appears poised to continue its momentum going forward. Analysts are strongly bullish on AVGO shares and expect Broadcom's earnings to grow by close to 19% in the coming year.

McKesson's Fundamentals Grow Even as Stock Price Rally May Slow

Unlike Broadcom, pharmaceutical distribution and medical device company McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) may have a bit more trouble in the short-term sustaining its share price growth. After climbing 53% in the last year, analysts now suspect that the company may dip slightly, with downside potential of 4% forecasted.

A leveling off of shares in the near term may not be a problem for McKesson's dividend distributions, however, as the company has 17 years of increases to establish it as an underappreciated healthcare dividend growth name. Its dividend yield is modest at 0.33%, but it's also highly sustainable—McKesson's dividend payout ratio remains low at 9.43%.

McKesson's business is resilient thanks in part to its diversification across oncology, biopharma, multispecialty, and other healthcare categories. In Q3 fiscal 2026, ended Dec. 31, 2025, oncology revenues climbed by 37% YOY, solidly supporting overall revenue growth of 11% over the same period. At the same time, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was also up YOY, alongside strong free cash flow and share repurchases.

Perhaps most promising of all is that management raised guidance for fiscal 2026, including a 17% to 19% YOY growth rate for adjusted EPS and a 12% to 16% revenue growth forecast. It seems likely that McKesson will continue to thrive despite external challenges.

Amphenol's Dividend Boost Reflects Its Underlying Fundamental Strength

A maker of fiber-optic and other cables, Amphenol Corp. (NYSE: APH) saw its share price mostly stabilize after dropping following its latest earnings report in early February. Although the company posted earnings and revenue gains, shares plunged after management issued tepid guidance.

Amphenol does not have the same uninterrupted history of dividend increases as the companies above. Indeed, it broke a multi-year streak of increases in the summer of 2024 when it sliced distributions by a quarter.

However, the company subsequently boosted its payouts by about 50% a year later and currently sports a dividend yield of 0.74%.

Analysts expect Amphenol's earnings to grow about 12% in the coming year, and recent performance suggests this is feasible.

The company beat analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue in the latest quarter, driven by impressive sales of $6.4 billion and a record $8.4 billion in orders, along with strong margins and excellent cash flow.

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