Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: Emerson Electric

Updated on February 27th, 2026 by Bob Ciura

The Dividend Aristocrats consist of companies that have raised their dividends for at least 25 years in a row. Over the decades, many of these companies have become huge multinational corporations, but not all.

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Emerson Electric (EMR) has raised its dividend for 69 consecutive years, giving it one of the longest dividend growth streaks in the stock market.

This also qualifies the company as a Dividend King. Only four companies have longer dividend growth streaks than Emerson.

The company has achieved an exceptional dividend growth record thanks to its strong business model, decent resilience to downturns, and somewhat conservative payout ratio.

These factors provide a margin of safety during recessions. In this article, we’ll review Emerson’s prospects as an investment today.

Business Overview

Emerson Electric was founded in Missouri in 1890. Since then, it has evolved from a regional manufacturer of electric motors and fans into a technology and engineering company, providing solutions to industrial, commercial and individual customers.

It is a global leader with a presence in more than 150 countries. It offers industrial equipment and software to the oil and gas industry, refining, power generation, and other industries.

Emerson posted first quarter earnings on February 4th, 2026, and results were slightly better than expected. Adjusted earnings-per-share came to $1.46, which was a nickel ahead of estimates.

Revenue was up 4.1% year-over-year to $4.35 billion, which met expectations. Net income was $605 million, which was higher from $585 million in the year-ago period.

Underlying orders for the quarter were up 9% year-on-year, marking the fourth straight quarter of growth. Underlying sales, which is akin to organic revenue, rose 2%.

Operating cash flow was down 10% year-over-year to $699 million, while free cash flow was off 13% to $602 million. The latter reflected working capital timing and higher interest expense.

The backlog ended the quarter at $7.9 billion, which was up 9% year-over-year, and the book-to-bill ratio was 1.13.

Management noted they expect to return $2.2 billion to shareholders this year, including $1 billion in share repurchases and the balance in dividends.

Growth Prospects

Emerson has pursued growth by expanding its customer base and acquiring many companies. The company regularly acquires and divests parts of its business to create an optimal portfolio mix.

Overall, Emerson has conducted many acquisitions and divestments to reshape its business.

Emerson is undergoing a significant shift in its strategy. It is selling off legacy units and focusing more on automation and recurring revenue.

We are estimating growth of 9% as management remains bullish, there are signs of organic revenue growth improvement, and margins are improving.

Mid-single digit growth in revenue and a tailwind from the buyback will be the key drivers of earnings-per-share growth in the coming years, and we see Emerson as rebounding.

Guidance for this year is quite bullish at this point, implying record earnings by a wide margin. In addition, AspenTech is providing higher margins in addition to cost savings.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

Emerson has served its customers for several decades, building great expertise in the markets it serves.

In addition, thanks to its large scale and dominant global presence, it has a great reputation. This provides the company with a significant competitive advantage.

On the other hand, due to its reliance on industrial and commercial customers, Emerson is vulnerable to recessions and downturns in the energy sector. In the Great Recession, its earnings per share were as follows:

2007 earnings-per-share of $2.66
2008 earnings-per-share of $3.11 (17% increase)
2009 earnings-per-share of $2.27 (27% decline)
2010 earnings-per-share of $2.60 (15% increase)
2011 earnings-per-share of $3.24 (25% increase)

Emerson survived the Great Recession with just one year of decline in earnings per share, which is certainly impressive.

Given its sensitivity to economic cycles, it is impressive that Emerson has grown its dividend for 69 consecutive years. The exceptional dividend record can be attributed to the company’s decent resilience during downturns.

Another reason is the conservative payout ratio, which should be about 34% this year. This provides a material margin of safety for the dividend during economic downturns.

Valuation & Expected Returns

Based on expected adjusted EPS of $6.52 for fiscal 2026, Emerson is trading at 23.3 times its expected EPS. This earnings multiple is lower than our estimate of fair value, which is 20 times earnings.

This implies a -3.1% annual headwind should it return to 20 times earnings over the next five years.

Therefore, we project total annual returns of 6.9% over the next five years, due to 9% earnings growth, the starting yield of 1.5%, and the contracting P/E multiple.

Final Thoughts

Emerson has an impressive dividend growth record, particularly given its heavy reliance on industrial and commercial customers, who struggle during recessions or downturn in the energy sector.

We see the stock as somewhat overvalued today. While the dividend growth streak is notable, the total return potential is decent at this point.

As a result, Emerson earns a buy rating due to projected returns.

Additionally, the following Sure Dividend databases contain the most reliable dividend growers in our investment universe:

The Dividend Champions: Dividend stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases, including those that may not qualify as Dividend Aristocrats.
The Best DRIP Stocks: The top 15 Dividend Aristocrats with no-fee dividend reinvestment plans.

If you’re looking for stocks with unique dividend characteristics, consider the following Sure Dividend databases:

The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: