Best dividend growth stocks to have in your portfolio

Consistent hikes in dividend payouts can compound into substantial long-term wealth and the following three ASX dividend growth stocks have the financial strength and earnings growth potential to steadily increase payouts for a long time.

National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) 

is one of the best ASX dividend growth stocks with a market capitalisation of almost $111 billion and a fully franked dividend yield of 4.7%.
The bank in 1H FY26 reported underlying profit excluding notable items of $5.85 billion which was up 6.4% while cash earnings excluding notable items increased 2.3% to $3.59 billion due to stable margins and growth across key lending and deposit segments.

Net operating income rose 3.1% to $10.87 billion supported by business lending growth of 10.8% in Corporate & Institutional Banking and 4.6% in Business & Private Banking while transaction deposit growth stayed strong and helped maintain margin stability.

Management has allocated significant resources to digital transformation and AI initiatives to improve productivity and customer outcomes while the bank retained a strong capital position with a pro-forma CET1 ratio of 12.05% which is comfortably above regulatory requirements.

NAB's outlook is positive as it is focused on three strategic priorities which include expansion of business banking, increasing deposit growth and enhancing proprietary home lending, all of which are expected to support higher returns over time.

A dividend payout policy of 65% to 75% of cash earnings and improving operating leverage place the bank in a favourable position to increase shareholder distributions over the long term.

Telstra Group Limited (ASX: TLS) 

is one of the leading ASX dividend growth stocks with a market capitalisation of almost $57.05 billion along with an annual dividend yield of 3.91% and a long-established record of paying semi-annual dividends that are typically fully franked.

The company in 1H FY26 reported strong financial performance with Underlying EBITDAaL up 5.5% to $4.19 billion while EBIT increased 9.2% to $2.0 billion and NPAT rose 8.1% to $1.2 billion.
Key developments included the expansion of the Aura Intercity Fibre Network along with the rollout of 5G Advanced technology and an increase in the on-market share buyback program to as much as $1.25 billion which reflects management’s confidence in future cash generation.

Management reaffirmed FY26 guidance of $8.2 billion to $8.4 billion in Underlying EBITDAaL and $4.55 billion to $4.75 billion in Cash EBIT while also targeting mid-single-digit cash earnings growth and a 10% Underlying ROIC by FY30 under its Connected Future 30 strategy.

APA Group (ASX: APA) 

is one of the best ASX dividend growth stocks as it has high-quality infrastructure assets with inflation linked revenue streams and a large pipeline of growth projects.
The company in 1H FY26 reported a strong financial result as segment revenue rose 3.6% to $1.41 billion while Underlying EBITDA increased 7.6% to $1.09 billion and EBITDA margin improved by 280 basis points to 77.3%.

Free Cash Flow increased 0.7% to $556 million and APA also reported Statutory NPAT of $95 million which was up 179% from the prior corresponding period.

Management reaffirmed FY26 Underlying EBITDA guidance of $2.12 billion to $2.20 billion and expects performance to exceed the midpoint of that range while the organic growth pipeline has expanded to approximately $3 billion.

The current market capitalisation is $13.85 billion while dividend yield is 5.49% and APA's long-life assets are expected to play a key role in Australia's energy transition beyond 2050.

(Source: Company Announcements)