For more than a century, the stock market has been one of the world’s greatest wealth creators. With thousands of publicly traded companies and exchange-traded funds to choose from, there is no shortage of strategies for investors to grow their wealth. However, buying and holding high-quality dividend stocks is often one of the savviest strategies.
In “The Power of Dividends: Past, Present, and Future,” Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend payers crushed non-payers on an annualized return basis over the last 52 years (1973-2025): 9.2% vs. 4.21%. Consistency is key when investing in dividend stocks – and no company has been delivering the goods longer for income seekers than little-known water utility, York Water (NASDAQ:YORW).
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York Water sports the longest continuous dividend streak on Wall Street
If the York Water name doesn’t ring a bell, you’re not alone. I’d wager 99% of investors have never heard of it until now. That’s because it operates as a water and wastewater services provider for 58 municipalities covering four counties in South-Central Pennsylvania. Its 214,000 customers are a drop in the bucket next to the U.S. population.
It’s also an off-the-radar stock. It averages a mere 141,500 shares traded per day and sports a relatively small $503 million market cap.
But what York Water lacks in size and daily trading volume, it more than makes up for in dividend consistency.
York has paid a continuous dividend since its founding in 1816. That’s 210 consecutive years of dividend payments, covering the terms of all but three U.S. presidents and standing 60 years longer than the next-closest company in terms of continuous payouts, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE:SWK). It’s also in the midst of a 29-year streak of raising its base annual dividend.
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Wall Street’s greatest dividend stock has a lot working in its favor
One reason York Water delivers year after year for its investors is the predictability of its operating model. Demand for water and wastewater services doesn’t change much from one year to the next, yielding predictable cash flow.
Additionally, water utilities usually operate as monopolies in the areas they service. Given the high costs of water and wastewater infrastructure, York doesn’t have to worry about losing its customers to competitors.
