Some of the most attractive opportunities are the top dividend kings, all of which have raised their payout for 50+ years.

Even in times of economic disarray, inflation, booms, busts, rising interest rates, recessions, and crashes, they’ve still raised their dividends. If they can survive all of that, and still raise their payouts, these top dividend kings are definitely worth a look.

If you’re looking for a top dividend kings ETF, you won’t find one. Instead, the next best ETF would be the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (CBOE:NOBL). This one holds the Aristocrats or the stocks that have bumped their dividends higher for 25+ years.

If you simply want to bet strictly on the top dividend kings, here are seven you might want to buy and hold today.

American States Water (AWR)

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) has paid dividends every year since 1931. Just last week, it did so again, raising its dividend to $0.43, or $1.72 annualized, for the 349th time.

With that, the company now has a dividend yield of 1.95%.

“This significant dividend increase reflects American States Water’s strength and our Board’s confidence in the company’s ability to achieve long-term, sustainable earnings growth,” said Robert J. Sprowls, President and CEO.

That dividend growth will only continue, especially with strong company earnings.

In its second quarter, the company beat Q2 GAAP EPS by 27 cents.  Revenue soared 28.4% year over year to $157.4 million, which beat by $29.4 million.

Dover Corp. (DOV)

With a yield of 1.43%, Dover Corp. (NYSE:DOV) has been raising its dividend for the last 68 years. Most recently, it raised it to 51 cents, payable Sept. 15 to shareholders of record, as of Aug. 31.

While earnings weren’t great in its most recent quarter, the long-term investment opportunity is still solid.

In fact, according to Seeking Alpha, “the tone of management was incrementally better, as a softer landing for the economy seems more likely and most of the negative impact of destocking seems to have already hit the businesses.”

Technically, the DOV stock appears to have bottomed out around $142.37, where it’s currently consolidating.

From here, I’d like to see it refill its bearish gap around $152 initially. In addition, analysts at Baird just raised their price target on Dover to $174 from $170.

Northwest Natural Holding (NWN)

Another hot Dividend King to consider is Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN), which just declared a dividend of 48.5 cents.  It’s payable on Aug. 15 to shareholders of record as of July 31.

It also represents its 67th year of payouts from the company. Not only did the company’s Q2 GAAP EPS beat by six cents, revenue jumped 22% higher, year over year, to $237.86 million.

NWN is also technically oversold at triple bottom support dating back to late 2021. Each time it’s challenged its current price it bounced back significantly.

For example, in 2021, it bounced from about $40 to $53. In late 2022, it bounced from about $40 to $51. Now, with the stock back to about $40, I expect to see another bounce higher.

Genuine Parts (GPC)

There’s also Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC), which just raised its dividend to 95 cents. That dividend was payable to shareholders on July 3. This is now the 68th year of increases from the company, and I expect to see another dividend raise shortly.

Even better, GPC’s Q2 non-GAAP EPS of $2.44 beat by nine cents. Unfortunately, revenue slipped to $5.9 billion, a miss of $60 million. It also disappointed with a revenue forecast of 4% to 6% growth, as compared to 6.1% expectations. However, don’t let that chase you from the stock.

It’s been through worse and still has a strong history of dividend payouts. Technically, after gapping from about $167.15 to $156.17, the stock caught support and is now consolidating at current prices. With the negativity now priced into the gap lower, I’d like to see the stock refill the gap.

Procter & Gamble (PG)

A household name, Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9407 per share, payable on or after Aug. 15, according to the company. This is now the 133rd consecutive year of paying dividends. It’s also increased its dividend for each of the last 67 years.

Earnings were solid, with a Q4 non-GAAP EPS beat by five cents.  Revenue jumped 5.5% year over year to $20.6 billion, which was a beat by $610 million.

According to Jon Moeller, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO, the company does expect to deliver stronger organic sales growth in fiscal 2024, as well as EPS growth, all despite macroeconomic and geopolitical issues.

Analysts love the stock, too. Bank of America just raised its price target to $175 from $170. Barclays raised to $166 from $160. Stifel raised from $155 to $161. RBC Capital raised from $165 to $167. Wells Fargo raised from $165 to $170. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan also raised price targets on the PG stock.

Parker Hannifin (PH)

There’s also Parker Hannifin (NYSE:PH), which paid a quarterly cash dividend of $1.48 per share on June 2 to shareholders of record as of May 12. It was also the company’s 292nd consecutive quarterly dividend. I expect to see even more dividend increases in the short term.

In its fourth quarter, the company beat non-GAAP EPS by 59 cents.

Revenue, which soared to $5.1 billion, beat by $90 million. Full-year fiscal 2023 sales jumped 20% year over year to $19.1 billion. Fiscal net income jumped to $2.1 billion from $1.3 billion. Fiscal 2023 cash flow from operations was up 22% to $3 billion, or 15.6% of sales.

Analysts love the PH stock, too. Just last week, Argus raised its target price to $460 from $390. Baird raised its target to $465 from $436. And KeyBanc raised from $450 to $460 a share.

Emerson Electric (EMR)

Or, look at Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR), which just declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.52 payable Sept. 11 to stockholders of record Aug. 11. This is now Emerson’s 66th year of paying dividends, and definitely won’t be the last.

Earnings have been explosive: for the third quarter, its non-GAAP EPS of $1.29 beat by 19 cents, revenue of $3.94 billion beat by $60 million.

Full-year guidance was also bumped higher with top and bottom-line growth.

In addition, according to Seeking Alpha, the company “estimated a fiscal-year adjusted profit of $4.40 a share to $4.45 a share, greater than its previous forecast of $4.15 a share to $4.25 a share. The company also is aiming for sales growth of 10.5%, which is at the upper end of previous guidance.”

Analysts seem to like Emerson Electric, too. In fact, RBC Capital just raised its price target on EMR to $111 from $103. Mizuho also raised its target to $95 from $90 a share making it one of the top dividend kings to watch right now.

On the date of publication, Ian Cooper did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.