Is The Kroger Co. (KR) the Best Performing Dividend Stock to Buy Now?

Vardah Gill

Sun, Mar 9, 2025, 9:47 AM 6 min read

We precocious compiled a database of the 14 Best Performing Dividend Stocks To Buy Now. In this article, we are going to instrumentality a look astatine wherever The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) stands against the different dividend stocks.

Dividend stocks person taken a backseat successful the marketplace arsenic exertion and AI-driven equities person soared to grounds highs. However, analysts astatine Ned Davis Research judge that a much challenging macroeconomic scenery this twelvemonth could make opportunities for dividend stocks to regain momentum.

Amid concerns astir economical maturation and uncertainty surrounding erstwhile President Trump’s tariff policies, investors person been turning to antiaircraft strategies. In this environment, dividend stocks person proven resilient, offering some stableness and charismatic passive income. The Dividend Aristocrat index, which tracks companies with a past of astatine slightest 25 years of accordant dividend growth, has climbed by implicit 5.3% successful 2025. In contrast, the broader marketplace has declined by astir 1.7%, arsenic of the adjacent of March 7.

READ ALSO: 13 Best Cheap Dividend Stocks To Buy Right Now

While analysts stay cautious astir the market’s quality to prolong its caller gains, dividend stocks person progressively drawn their attraction for respective reasons. According to Ameriprise Financial, the S&P scale is wide regarded arsenic 1 of the astir important benchmarks for planetary equity markets. Over the past decade, dividend maturation and stock buybacks person go defining characteristics of the index, which includes galore planetary dividend-paying companies. Dividend maturation saw a crisp slowdown successful the last 4th of 2024, mostly attributed to the predetermination and uncertainty surrounding imaginable argumentation changes. With these concerns present successful the past, Ameriprise Financial expects a resurgence successful dividend maturation wrong the broader market. For 2025, projections bespeak a imaginable 8% summation successful dividend payouts, pursuing maturation rates of 6% successful 2024 and 5% successful 2023.

The study further mentioned that The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 besides played a important relation successful boosting dividends and stock buybacks successful 2018. By lowering the firm national taxation complaint from 35% to 21%, the authorities contributed to a surge successful shareholder returns, with buybacks and dividend payouts reaching multi-year highs the pursuing year. As the TCJA approaches its expiration successful 2025, discussions astir firm taxation reductions person resurfaced. While the projected alteration from 21% to 15% is not arsenic important arsenic the erstwhile cut, it could inactive supply an upside for shareholder returns wrong the broader marketplace erstwhile a last determination is reached.