3 Stocks Raise Dividends, But Which Has Room to Keep Growing?

Several big-name stocks across the consulting, defense, and consumer discretionary industries are adding more weight to their dividends. Two of these names have sizable yields above 2.5%, while a low-yield name has strong potential to continue increasing its dividend over time.

Among this group, recent developments at coffee giant Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) stand out. Despite a very high payout ratio and being in the midst of a turnaround, the company is boosting its dividend and has reportedly explored purchasing a massive restaurant chain.

Accenture Lifts Dividend, Soars After Latest Earnings

Consulting giant Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has had a difficult run in 2026, with shares down approximately 23%. While the stock remains deeply in the red, the situation was much worse earlier in the year. Through mid June, Accenture stock had fallen more than 50%. One of the key factors driving this was fear that companies could use AI tools to improve their operations, thereby reducing demand for traditional consulting services.

However, shares shot up over 15% after the company released its latest results. Accenture’s revenue of $18.7 billion was well above expectations, and the firm added nearly 100 clients who initiated their first advanced AI consulting work with it.

Accenture also announced a 5% dividend increase, moving its quarterly payment up to $1.71. The firm will pay its next dividend on Nov. 13 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 13. After the increase, Accenture now holds a very sizable forward dividend yield near 3.5%.

It is also in a strong position when it comes to dividend sustainability. Its payout ratio is approximately 48%, solidly below the 60% level that analysts consider healthy. Analysts expect the firm’s payout ratio to improve meaningfully to around 41%, based on next year’s estimates.

Curtiss-Wright Ups Dividend and Buybacks Amid Defense Downturn

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE: CW) operates in both the defense and the nuclear power industry. Shares had put up a strong performance through much of 2026, up more than 31% through the end of July. However, the stock has taken a turn for the worse over recent months, now in the red for the year.

Much of this decline has been due to weakness in defense stocks overall. Uncertainty around future defense spending levels has contributed to this, especially as the mid-term elections approach.

However, Curtiss-Wright has also faced significant leadership shakeups, naming a new CEO and seeing its CFO resign, hurting shares.

Nonetheless, Curtiss has announced a significant dividend increase of 8.3%, moving its payment to 26 cents per share, although its yield remains small, near 0.2%.

The payable date for this latest dividend has passed, but investors can very likely receive it in future quarters, given the company’s rock-bottom payout ratio near 7%.

This very low payout ratio makes it likely that the firm can continue increasing its dividend over time, albeit off a small base. The firm is also looking to return capital through buybacks, recently increasing its authorization to $700 million, equal to around 3.7% of its market capitalization.

Starbucks Boosts Dividend Amid Chipotle Acquisition Chatter

Starbucks has seen a moderate recovery in its share price during 2026. After delivering a negative 5.3% return in 2025, Starbucks is up approximately 9% year-to-date.

In its last two earnings reports, Starbucks posted considerable beats on both sales and earnings per share (EPS). Last quarter, Starbucks raised its full-year global comparable sales guidance to almost 6% and increased its full-year EPS guidance to between $2.55 and $2.65. However, the stock has also come under pressure recently following reports that it has explored a takeover of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG).

Amid this, Starbucks has announced a small 1.6% dividend increase, lifting its yield to a strong 2.8%. The company will pay its next 63-cent per share dividend on Nov. 27 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 13.

Based on last 12 months' earnings, its payout ratio of 142% clearly looks unsustainable. However, that figure drops greatly to 95% based on current year estimates, and analysts expect a further drop to 79% based on next year’s estimates. Nonetheless, these figures remain elevated, making Starbucks' ability to continue growing its earnings key to sustaining dividend growth.

Niccol’s Next Move: Is a Chipotle Deal on the Menu?

It is important to monitor whether Starbucks actually pursues a Chipotle takeover, a proposition that has both pros and cons. Starbucks' CEO, Brian Niccol, was the former CEO of Chipotle. This should provide Niccol with a very high degree of insight into Chipotle’s business, and thus an understanding of why it could be accretive to Starbucks. Additionally, Chipotle shares are down more than 50% from their all-time highs, making the deal more attractive for Starbucks.

Still, it is questionable whether such an acquisition makes sense at this time, as Starbucks is currently in the middle of a business turnaround. The company recently lowered its net new store additions guidance to 440 from between 600 and 650, has laid off hundreds of employees, and plans to invest $1 billion in store renovations. Amid this, acquiring and integrating a giant firm like Chipotle would significantly increase operational complexity and execution risk, though it could result in long-term synergies.

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