This Consumer Staples Giant's Dividend Streak Rivals PepsiCo. Nobody Talks About It.

This Consumer Staples Giant's Dividend Streak Rivals PepsiCo. Nobody Talks About It.

Matt DiLallo, The Motley Fool

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 6:50 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Kimberly Clark (NASDAQ: KMB) isn't a household name, although the consumer staples giant's products are in most households. It's also not that well-known among investors, even though it has a streak of 54 consecutive years of dividend increases, rivaling PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP). PepsiCo has far greater brand recognition because almost everyone knows its namesake beverage, whereas few would associate Huggies, Kleenex, and Cottonelle with Kimberly Clark.

Here's a closer look at this Dividend King (a company with 50 or more years of consecutive annual dividend increases), which deserves more attention from dividend investors.

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A boring dividend stock

Kimberly Clark raised its dividend from $1.26 per share to $1.28 per share this past January, extending its dividend growth streak to 54 years in a row. The consumer staples company has now paid dividends for 92 straight years. PepsiCo, which extended its streak to 54 years in June with a 4% raise, has now paid a dividend each year since 1965.

PepsiCo has spent a fortune on marketing to build a global beverage brand around its iconic name. That brand image has made it easily recognizable in the investor community. Kimberly Clark also spends a lot of money on marketing. That's why its portfolio of household product brands holds No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in about 70 countries and serves one in every four people globally each day. However, that hasn't translated into a well-known corporate brand.

As a result, many income investors are unfamiliar with the company. That's causing them to overlook a top dividend stock that offers an even more enticing yield than PepsiCo (4.7% vs. 4.1%).

The company's products benefit from durable, growing demand, with demand for its basic household products even more resilient than that for PepsiCo's beverage and snacking products. Meanwhile, it's taking a major step to enhance its global portfolio by acquiring consumer health products brand Kenvue, which could help drive growth (including the dividend) for years to come.

With a PepsiCo-like dividend growth streak and a higher-yielding payout backed by a more resilient portfolio, income-focused investors should know Kimberly Clark.

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Matt DiLallo has positions in PepsiCo. The Motley Fool recommends Kenvue. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This Consumer Staples Giant's Dividend Streak Rivals PepsiCo. Nobody Talks About It. was originally published by The Motley Fool