We recently published a list of the 10 High Growth Forever Dividend Stocks to Invest In. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) stands against other high growth forever dividend stocks.
Dividend stocks have trailed the broader market over the past two years, largely due to investors favoring AI-focused companies. Still, experienced investors recognize the long-term value of dividend-paying stocks, supported by their strong historical performance. Short-term trends don’t diminish their importance. In fact, dividends have historically played a major role in total returns, accounting for about 31% of the broader market’s monthly total return from 1926 through February 2025, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Dividend stocks have been performing well this year, even as broader markets faced turbulence. Wall Street took a hit recently amid rising fears about the economic fallout from President Donald Trump’s expanding trade war. The three major US indexes posted sharp declines, wiping out much of the prior session’s gains, as escalating tensions between the US and China overshadowed positive economic reports and progress in trade talks with Europe. The S&P index is down by over 8% since the start of 2025, whereas the tech-heavy NASDAQ has declined by over 13%. On the other hand, the Dividend Aristocrats Index, which tracks the performance of companies with 25 consecutive years of dividend growth, has recorded a decline of nearly 3%.
This highlights how dividend stocks tend to perform more steadily during market downturns—a trend backed by historical data. S&P Dow Jones Indices reports that, over time, the Dividend Aristocrats have delivered stronger risk-adjusted returns than the broader market, with lower volatility. These stocks have offered solid downside protection, outperforming the S&P index in about two-thirds of the market’s down months and roughly 44% of its up months. They’ve also experienced smaller drawdowns compared to the overall index, reinforcing their defensive appeal. In addition, during market downturns, the Dividend Aristocrats delivered an average excess return of 0.87% over the broader market. From December 29, 1989, to February 28, 2025, these stocks showed a market beta of 0.8, indicating lower volatility and stronger resilience compared to the overall market.
Analysts pointed out that the historical performance of dividend equities continues to shape a favorable outlook for the current year. A recent report from J.P. Morgan suggested that global equities may be entering a strong phase of dividend growth—driven not only by a cyclical rebound in payouts but also by a sustained structural momentum. While global dividends per share have grown at an average annual rate of 5.6% over the past two decades, projections now indicate an acceleration to 7.6% in the coming years.
The report emphasized that the most promising opportunities in the dividend space lie with so-called “Compounders”—companies with a consistent track record of increasing dividends over time, backed by solid earnings growth. Nearly half of the strategy focuses on these firms, which are also seen as powerful contributors to alpha generation within investment portfolios. Given this, we will take a look at some of the best high growth stocks that pay dividends.
A close-up of a person’s hand holding a bottle of pharmaceuticals.
Our Methodology:
For this list, we screened for dividend stocks with sound financials and robust balance sheets. From that group, we picked companies that achieved positive revenue growth in the past five years and dividend growth streaks of at least 10 years. The final 10 picks are those with a five-year revenue growth rate exceeding 5%. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their revenue growth rates.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with hedge funds. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK)
5-Year Revenue Growth: 10.40%
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company, based in New Jersey. It stands out as a major pharmaceutical company with a diverse portfolio of treatments, though its main focus is in oncology. Its top product, Keytruda, ranked as the world’s best-selling cancer drug last year. While US patent protection for Keytruda is set to expire in 2028, Merck is working on a new subcutaneous version of the drug, which could help prolong its market exclusivity into the 2030s.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) posted solid financial results in the final quarter of 2024, with revenue climbing 7% year-over-year to $15.6 billion. Over the full year, sales of Keytruda jumped 18%, totaling $29.5 billion. With expectations for the drug to bring in more than $35 billion annually by 2028—just before its patent runs out—the company continues to strengthen its leadership in the immunotherapy space.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is also a solid dividend payer. It currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.09%, as of April 13. It is one of the best high growth forever dividend stocks on our list as the company has been rewarding shareholders with growing dividends for the past 14 years.
Overall, MRK ranks 7th on our list of the best high growth stocks that pay dividends. While we acknowledge the potential of MRK as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued dividend stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued dividend stock that is more promising than MRK but that trades at 10 times its earnings and grows its earnings at double digit rates annually, check out our report about the dirt cheap dividend stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.