S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats List: Sorted By Hedge Fund Sentiment

1. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount stores, and grocery stores in the US. The stock is outperforming the broader market this year, delivering a 38% return to shareholders. This is due to a growing number of customers frequenting its stores and making greater use of its online shopping platforms. In its fiscal Q2 2025 earnings, the company reported a higher e-commerce penetration across all segments. Its global e-commerce sales grew by 21% on a YoY basis. Its consolidated revenues for the quarter came in at $168 billion, up 4.8% from the same period last year.

From a dividend point of view, Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is a reliable choice because of its strong balance sheet. The company ended the quarter with $8.8 billion available in cash and cash equivalents. It generated an operating cash flow of $16.4 billion and its free cash flow came in at $5.9 billion. Year-to-date, the company repurchased 33.4 million shares, worth $2.1 billion. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.2075 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.13%, as of August 19. WMT tops our list of the best dividend aristocrat stocks as the company has raised its payouts for 51 years in a row.

Insider Monkey’s database of Q2 2024 showed that 95 hedge funds held stakes in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), up significantly from 88 in the previous quarter. These stakes have a total value of nearly $9.2 billion. With over 45.5 million shares, Fisher Asset Management was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q2.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.