Jim Cramer’s Top 10 Dividend Stocks for Safe, Consistent Returns

8. Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68

Dividend Yield as of November 9: 1.22%

Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) has paid a dividend every year since 1923. Its latest declaration calls for $1.10 per share on November 27. Data center demand has given investors a more recent reason to follow the electrical equipment manufacturer. In May, after the shares sold off, Cramer disclosed what the Charitable Trust had done with its Eaton position.

The useful comparison for income investors goes back to a period when Eaton generated considerably less cash. In 2021, it produced approximately $1.59 billion after capital expenditures and paid about $1.22 billion in dividends. In the first nine months of 2026 alone, the company generated approximately $2.22 billion on the same basis and paid roughly $1.29 billion. The dividend was affordable in the leaner year, and its latest financial report shows considerably more room to sustain it if industrial demand slows.

7. Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 92

Dividend Yield as of November 9: 1.23%

In December 2025, Cramer said Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) shares had fallen roughly 20% from their August high. He identified the industrial gas supplier as a Charitable Trust holding and he pointed to one reason its earnings had held up over the years. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 7% to $1.60 in February 2026, its 33rd consecutive year of increases.

Linde’s largest customers offer a clue to how it has sustained those payments. When the company builds a gas plant on or beside a customer’s premises, its supply agreement typically runs for 10 to 20 years. Minimum purchases protect a portion of revenue when industrial production slows, and the contracts generally allow for price increases. In the first nine months of 2026, Linde generated $7.68 billion from operations, spent approximately $4.17 billion on capital projects and paid about $2.21 billion in dividends to Linde shareholders. Those figures account for the considerable cost of building and maintaining its plants.

6. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 92

Dividend Yield as of November 9: 2.2%

When concerns about consumer credit weighed on bank stocks in June, Cramer disclosed that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was a large Charitable Trust position. His reason for sticking with Goldman came down to who was borrowing the money. The company faces a different source of earnings volatility through its investment bank. Advisory fees depend on clients completing transactions, and trading revenue can fluctuate between quarters.

Goldman Sachs earned $17.01 per diluted share in the third quarter and paid a $5 common dividend in September. It declared another $5 payment for December. Earnings comfortably covered the payout. However, bank shareholders also have to consider how much capital regulators require the firm to retain. Goldman Sachs ended September with a standardized common equity Tier 1 ratio of 12.4%, against an 11.4% requirement. That capital margin matters when judging how much room the bank would have to keep paying shareholders in a weaker market.

5. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 98

Dividend Yield as of November 9: 2.64%

The Home Depot, Inc.’s (NYSE:HD) September payment of $2.33 per share marked its 158th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. The shares had disappointed Cramer by early October, when he discussed their performance. Even with housing activity subdued, he saw a reason to own Home Depot before shoppers returned to the renovation aisle.

For shareholders collecting the dividend, the weaker fiscal year ended February 1, 2026, offers a useful perspective. The company’s operating cash flow fell to $16.33 billion in the fiscal year ended February 1, 2026, from $19.81 billion a year earlier. Even in the weaker year, that was enough to cover both its $3.68 billion in capital expenditures and the $9.15 billion it paid in cash dividends. Operating cash flow then rose to $11.42 billion in the six months ended August 2, 2026, from $8.97 billion in the same period a year earlier.