by Ian Cooper

One of the best ways to generate reliable income is by investing in the Dividend Aristocrats. Not only have these stocks paid out dividends for more than 25 years, they’re also some of the most reliable companies on the planet – even in the worst of times.

Some of the top ones include:

McDonald’s (MCD)

McDonald’s currently yields 2.19%. It also just declared a quarterly dividend of $1.52 a share, which is payable Sept. 18 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 1. Given the strength of the McDonald’s brand, we’ll see even more.

Helping, earnings show no clear signs of slowing. In its most recent quarter, it posted EPS of $3.17, which beat expectations by 38 cents. Revenue came in at $6.5 billion, which was up 13.6% year over year, and beat estimates by $210 million. Global comparable sales were also up 11.7, with U.S. sales up 10.3%. Growth is not a problem here.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP)

Not only is Automatic Data Processing (ADP) an Aristocrat with 48 years of dividend payouts, it’s also recession proof – with a yield of 2.2%.

Companies still need to run payroll and use human resources services that a company, such as ADP offers even in a bad economy. For example, since June, the ADP stock ran about 70% higher, as the DJIA gained about 4%.

ADP also just declared a quarterly dividend of $1.25 a share, payable Oct. 1 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 8. Better, it just crushed earnings, with EPS of $1.89, which beat expectations by six cents.  Revenue of $4.5 billion beat by $110 million.

Lowe’s (LOW)

Lowe’s holds Dividend Aristocrat and King status with a 50-year history of payouts. At the moment, LOW yields about 1.9%, and just declared a quarterly dividend of $1.10 a share, payable Nov. 8, to shareholders of record as of Oct. 25.  

Earnings haven’t been too shabby either. In Q2, the company posted EPS of $4.56, which beat expectations by eight cents. Revenue of $25 billion was in-line with estimates. Helping, DA Davidson analyst Michael Baker has a buy rating on the stock, with a $237 price target.