With a year-to-date (YTD) of over 23%, Energy Transfer (ET) is outperforming the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) by a big margin this year. In my previous article, I noted that ET could deliver decent returns in the medium term and discussed the possibility of a rally in Q4 2025. The stock has since risen over 20% even as the gains have come this year instead of in the final quarter of 2025 as I had expected. Nonetheless, with ET stock now up significantly from its 2025 lows, let's explore whether it is still a buy or if it's now too late to enter this midstream energy company.
To begin with, let's look at ET's dividend, as it is among the key metrics to watch for midstream companies that are known to pay fat dividends. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 3% to $0.3350 per share in January. The increase was towards the lower end of the 3%-5% annual dividend growth that ET is targeting. Currently, Energy Transfer offers a dividend yield of 6.6%, among the highest in the midstream energy **** e.
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Dividend Aristocrats are usually known for consistency, not speed. Their long histories of raising dividends make them popular among income investors, but they're not always the first stocks that come to mind when the market is moving higher.
However, some of these companies are doing both- delivering dependable income while outperforming the S&P 500 so far this year.
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NOBL's equal weighting across 70 holdings and a 44% fund-level payout ratio give its 2% yield a durable, compounding foundation.
CVX posted negative Q1 free cash flow and a 37% net income drop, but its 1.4% weight limits damage to ***** L's income stream.
JNJ and KO anchor the income story with 64 and 60-plus consecutive dividend raises and payout ratios comfortably below 65%.
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The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (CBOE:NOBL) pays a roughly 2% dividend yield built on a portfolio of 70 holdings, each of which has raised its dividend for at least 25 consecutive years. Income investors buy ***** L for a specific promise: that the underlying companies are so entrenched in their markets that quarterly dividend growth continues through recessions, inflation shocks, and rate cycles. That promise faces a test in mid-2026, especially across the five holdings most investors watch as bellwethers for the group.

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Nordson (NDSN) surged 25% and Aflac (AFL) gained 6% year to date, both outpacing the S&P 500 while raising dividends in 2026.
Lowe's dropped 9% on macro housing headwinds despite six straight earnings beats and a fresh dividend raise to $1.25 quarterly.
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On January 1, 2026, we published The 3 Best Dividend Aristocrats to Buy in 2026, naming Aflac (NYSE: AFL), Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), and Nordson (NASDAQ: NDSN) as the three most compelling names on the Aristocrat roster. Six months later, the scorecard shows two winners and one clear laggard. The S&P 500 has returned 9.5% year to date, providing a firm benchmark. One pick has crushed it, one has kept pace on total return, and one has pulled back hard. The Aristocrat thesis, however, holds across all three: each has raised its payout again in 2026, proving that the income compounding continues even when price action does not.
Here are the halftime scores, counting down from poorest performer to best.

This Dividend ETF You Haven't Heard of Is Springing to Life

Experienced dividend investors may know about the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats® index, which is a basket of S&P 500 member firms that have boosted payouts for a minimum of 25 straight years. That index is accessible in fund form, meaning that income seekers can efficiently tap into a basket of stocks with steadily rising payouts. (Dividend Aristocrats® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC.)
What many dividend investors may not know is that aristocracy isn't confined to the large-cap S&P 500. Some m