Top Utilities Stocks by Dividends Paid
Top utilities companies ranked by dividends paid, latest annual filings.
What Dividends Paid Means for Utilities Companies
Dividends paid is the cash a company returned to shareholders in the latest fiscal year, taken from the financing section of the cash flow statement. Utilities earn an authorized return on a regulated rate base, and that predictable revenue makes them the most dependable payers on the market. Totals move within a narrow band from year to year, and the dividend, rather than growth, is what most holders own the shares for.
Why It Matters in Utilities
Regulation makes the payment credible in a way few other sectors can match, since the rate base grows with approved capital spending and the return on it is set in advance. The coverage test differs, though. A payout above free cash flow is normal here, because construction is financed with debt and equity by design, so free cash flow is the wrong yardstick; earnings, the authorized return, and the funding plan fit better.
What to Read Alongside
Read it beside Net Income, the earnings the payment is set against, Return on Equity for the return regulators allow, and Long-Term Debt, since the rate base is financed with borrowing.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NEE | NextEra Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $4.68B | $172.06B |
| 2 | DUK | Duke Energy Corporation | Utilities | $3.30B | $97.05B |
| 3 | SO | The Southern Company | Utilities | $3.02B | $106.49B |
| 4 | D | Dominion Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $2.28B | $57.26B |
| 5 | AEP | American Electric Power Company, Inc. | Utilities | $2.01B | $70.35B |
| 6 | NGG | National Grid plc | Utilities | $1.97B | $82.21B |
| 7 | EXC | Exelon Corporation | Utilities | $1.62B | $45.89B |
| 8 | SRE | Sempra | Utilities | $1.60B | $55.08B |
| 9 | XEL | Xcel Energy Inc. | Utilities | $1.28B | $48.62B |
| 10 | EIX | Edison International | Utilities | $1.27B | $22.23B |
| 11 | PEG | Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated | Utilities | $1.26B | $35.94B |
| 12 | ED | Consolidated Edison, Inc. | Utilities | $1.17B | $42.69B |
| 13 | WEC | WEC Energy Group, Inc. | Utilities | $1.15B | $36.21B |
| 14 | BEP | Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. | Utilities | $1.14B | $13.89B |
| 15 | ES | Eversource Energy | Utilities | $1.09B | $25.44B |
| 16 | ETR | Entergy Corporation | Utilities | $1.07B | $51.36B |
| 17 | FE | FirstEnergy Corp. | Utilities | $1.02B | $26.72B |
| 18 | DTE | DTE Energy Company | Utilities | $871.00M | $27.41B |
| 19 | PPL | PPL Corporation | Utilities | $794.00M | $26.28B |
| 20 | AEE | Ameren Corporation | Utilities | $768.00M | $29.92B |
| 21 | AWK | American Water Works Company, Inc. | Utilities | $633.00M | $28.16B |
| 22 | WTRG | Essential Utilities, Inc. | Utilities | $633.00M | $12.13B |
| 23 | EVRG | Evergy, Inc. | Utilities | $613.10M | $19.51B |
| 24 | FTS | Fortis Inc. | Utilities | $574.68M | $29.39B |
| 25 | CNP | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $574.00M | $27.14B |
| 26 | ATO | Atmos Energy Corporation | Utilities | $553.76M | $28.95B |
| 27 | NI | NiSource Inc. | Utilities | $530.40M | $20.83B |
| 28 | LNT | Alliant Energy Corporation | Utilities | $521.00M | $18.02B |
| 29 | AES | The AES Corporation | Utilities | $501.00M | $10.72B |
| 30 | CEG | Constellation Energy Corporation | Utilities | $486.00M | $89.46B |
| 31 | PNW | Pinnacle West Capital Corporation | Utilities | $422.79M | $12.77B |
| 32 | EMA | Emera Incorporated | Utilities | $420.07M | $15.00B |
| 33 | NRG | NRG Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $411.00M | $19.68B |
| 34 | CWEN | Clearway Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $358.00M | $7.75B |
| 35 | ENIC | Enel Chile S.A. | Utilities | $351.45M | $5.99B |
| 36 | OGE | OGE Energy Corp. | Utilities | $341.90M | $10.01B |
| 37 | UGI | UGI Corporation | Utilities | $322.00M | $8.39B |
| 38 | VST | Vistra Corp. | Utilities | $306.00M | $47.57B |
| 39 | KEN | Kenon Holdings Ltd. | Utilities | $267.94M | $3.34B |
| 40 | POR | Portland General Electric Company | Utilities | $225.00M | $5.19B |
| 41 | AQN | Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. | Utilities | $201.30M | $4.13B |
| 42 | BKH | Black Hills Corporation | Utilities | $197.90M | $6.12B |
| 43 | IDA | IDACORP, Inc. | Utilities | $188.48M | $8.11B |
| 44 | SR | Spire Inc. | Utilities | $182.20M | $5.07B |
| 45 | NJR | New Jersey Resources Corporation | Utilities | $180.07M | $5.40B |
| 46 | SWX | Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. | Utilities | $178.51M | $6.69B |
| 47 | TXNM | TXNM Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $163.37M | $6.43B |
| 48 | NWE | NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. | Utilities | $161.39M | $4.83B |
| 49 | OGS | ONE Gas, Inc. | Utilities | $160.71M | $4.93B |
| 50 | AVA | Avista Corporation | Utilities | $159.00M | $3.12B |
| 51 | MDU | MDU Resources Group, Inc. | Utilities | $108.24M | $4.08B |
| 52 | KEP | Korea Electric Power Corporation | Utilities | $85.87M | $13.47B |
| 53 | NWN | Northwest Natural Holding Company | Utilities | $77.31M | $2.10B |
| 54 | AWR | American States Water Company | Utilities | $74.66M | $3.38B |
| 55 | CWT | California Water Service Group | Utilities | $73.85M | $2.95B |
| 56 | MGEE | MGE Energy, Inc. | Utilities | $67.59M | $2.78B |
| 57 | CPK | Chesapeake Utilities Corporation | Utilities | $60.70M | $3.41B |
| 58 | HTO | H2O America | Utilities | $58.65M | $2.45B |
| 59 | UTL | Unitil Corporation | Utilities | $30.10M | $1.01B |
| 60 | ENLT | Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd | Utilities | $29.80M | $9.70B |
| 61 | ORA | Ormat Technologies, Inc. | Utilities | $29.07M | $5.36B |
| 62 | MSEX | Middlesex Water Company | Utilities | $24.92M | $1.06B |
| 63 | YORW | The York Water Company | Utilities | $12.63M | $516.88M |
| 64 | BEPC | Brookfield Renewable Corporation | Utilities | $5.00M | $5.44B |
No companies match this search.
This list ranks the total dollars paid out over the latest fiscal year, so the largest companies lead it; a big payout says nothing about the yield a share buys today. A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the accounts are not in US dollars.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by dividends paid as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a utility pay out more than its free cash flow?
Because the rate base is built with borrowed and issued capital by design. Approved construction spending runs continuously, so free cash flow after that spending is often negative even when operations are healthy, while the dividend is funded from operating cash flow and the capital program is financed separately. Earnings, the authorized return, and the funding plan are the coverage tests that fit this sector.
Are utility dividend totals stable from year to year?
They are the steadiest in the market, because revenue comes from regulated rates rather than from volumes that swing with the economy. Changes tend to be small and planned, arriving after a rate case rather than after a good quarter. The risks that do exist sit in regulatory decisions, interest costs on the borrowing that funds the rate base, and the size of the capital program itself.