Plenty of companies have paid some sort of dividend for decades or even over a century. But the field narrows once you factor in companies that have not only paid a dividend, but also raised it every year.

To accomplish that feat, a company has to sport earnings growth, navigate downturns and recessions, and maintain a healthy balance sheet. In other words, companies with multidecade streaks of dividend raises are balanced -- which can be especially valuable to investors focused on preserving capital and supplementing income in retirement.

But investing isn't so much about where a company has been as it is about where it is going. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), and (NYSE: MKC) have paid and raised their dividends for over 30 consecutive years, but they also have what it takes to keep growing their payouts for decades to come. Here's why all three dividend stocks are worth buying now.

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Source Fool.com