Consumer Staples Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola Offer Decades of Dividend Growth

Three consumer staples - Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) - have a long history of paying dividends to shareholders.

All three companies are known as 'Dividend Kings', having raised their dividends for at least 50 consecutive years, with Colgate-Palmolive reaching 63 years of dividend growth, Procter & Gamble at 70 years, and Coca-Cola at 64 years.

Their ability to maintain steady sales and profits has allowed them to sustainably pay out a significant portion of their free cash flow as dividends. For example, Colgate-Palmolive's quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share yields about 2.47%, while Procter & Gamble's quarterly dividend of $1.0885 per share yields around 2.98%.

Analysts expect earnings to grow at an annualized rate of 5% for Colgate-Palmolive and 7% for Coca-Cola, which should translate into similar growth in free cash flow and dividends.