Dividend growth investors should consider high-quality dividend stocks when looking for high yields, such as the Dividend Champions. This is a group of over 130 stocks that have dividend increase streaks of at least 25 years. 

With that sort of longevity, their business models can stand the test of competition, recessions, and technological changes that inevitably occur. Starting with this list of Champions and narrowing it down to the higher-yielding ones can produce truly great dividend stocks. 

These 3 Dividend Champions have high yields above 5%, making them particularly appealing for income investors.

Franklin Resources (BEN)

Franklin Resources, founded in 1947 and headquartered in San Mateo, CA, is a global asset manager with a long and successful history.

The company offers investment management (which makes up the bulk of fees the company collects) and related services to its customers, including sales, distribution, and shareholder servicing.

As of March 31st, 2025, assets under management (AUM) totaled $1.541 trillion.

On December 4th, 2024, Franklin Resources announced a $0.32 quarterly dividend, marking a 3% year-over-year increase and the company’s 45th consecutive year of increasing its payment.

On May 2nd, 2025, Franklin Resources reported second quarter 2025 results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. Total assets under management equaled $1.541 trillion, down $35 billion sequentially, as a result of $26 billion of long term net outflows and the negative impact of nearly $12 billion of net market change, distributions, and other, partly offset by $2.7 billion of cash management net inflows.

For the quarter, operating revenue totaled $2.111 billion, down 2% year-over-year. On an adjusted basis, net income equaled $254 million or $0.47 per share, down 16% from $0.56 in Q2 2024. During Q2, Franklin repurchased 0.5 million shares of stock for $10 million.

The biggest growth segment in the asset management industry is ETFs, which have much lower expense ratios than actively managed funds. Franklin’s actively managed funds have performed well, which serves as an advantage versus other active asset managers.

Franklin Resources has been acquiring alternative AUM through purchases such as Legg Mason, Lexington Partners, and Alcentra. It also closed its acquisition of Putnam Investments on January 1, 2024, which added $148 billion of assets to the company that has since grown approximately 20%.

BEN has increased its dividend for 45 years and the stock currently yields 5.7%.

NNN REIT (NNN)

National Retail Properties is a REIT that owns single-tenant, net-leased retail properties across the United States. It is focused on retail customers because they are much more likely to accept rent hikes to avoid switching locations and losing their customer base.

On May 1, 2025, NNN REIT, Inc. reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025. The company achieved net earnings of $0.51 per diluted share, a slight decrease from $0.52 per share in the same period of the previous year.

Core Funds From Operations (Core FFO) and Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) per diluted share both increased by 3.6% year-over-year, reaching $0.86 and $0.87, respectively. Total revenues grew to $230.9 million, up from $215.4 million in the first quarter of 2024.

During the quarter, NNN REIT invested $232.4 million in 82 properties, achieving an initial cash cap rate of 7.4% and a weighted average lease term exceeding 18 years, completing over 40% of its 2025 acquisition volume plan at the midpoint.

The company maintained a high occupancy rate of 97.7% across its portfolio of 3,641 properties. The trust’s high level of occupancy should afford it low single-digit levels of revenue growth, while slightly increasing margins should continue to see it growing FFO-per-share.

National Retail’s payout ratio is being maintained at nearly three-quarters of FFO, and we believe it will stay there for the foreseeable future. Given this, the dividend is fairly safe at this point with the trust’s rising earnings. NNN has increased its dividend for 35 consecutive years and the stock currently yields 5.5%.

Polaris Inc. (PII)

Polaris designs, engineers, and manufactures snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles. In addition, related accessories and replacement parts are sold with these vehicles through dealers located throughout the U.S.

The company operates under 30+ brands including Polaris, Ranger, RZR, Sportsman, Indian Motorcycle, Slingshot and Transamerican Auto Parts. The global powersports maker, serving over 100 countries, generated more than $7 billion in sales in 2024.

On April 29th, 2025, Polaris reported first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, revenue fell 11.5% to $1.54 billion, but this was $10 million above estimates.

Adjusted earnings-per-share of -$0.90 compared unfavorably to $0.23 in the prior year, but this was $0.01 better than expected.

For the quarter, Marine sales decreased 7%, On-Road was lower by 20%, and Off-Road, the largest component of the company, declined 10%. As with previous quarters, decreases in all three businesses were mostly due to lower volumes.

Over the long-term Polaris can generate growth via the ongoing replacement need for ATVs, snowmobiles, and similar vehicles, continued growth in international markets, bolt-on acquisitions, and margin expansion.

Polaris enjoys a competitive advantage through its brand names, low-cost production, and long history in its various industries, allowing the company to be the leader in ATVs and number two in snowmobiles and domestic motorcycles.

PII stock currently yields 6.5%. The company has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years.