Meet the Little-Known, S&P 500 Dividend Stock That Has Rocketed 3,740% Higher Since 2000

Roper Technologies (NASDAQ: ROP) is a diversified technology company that has delivered total returns of roughly 3,740% since 2000. These returns are six times larger than the S&P 500's over the same time, making Roper one of the most successful stocks in the index.

Despite this incredible run, the average person probably hasn't heard of Roper or its portfolio of roughly 28 independent businesses. Management beautifully summarized the company's operations in its 2023 Investor Day presentation, stating: "We compound cash flow by acquiring and growing niche, market-leading technology businesses."

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By targeting defensible niche markets, Roper has become a cash-generating machine that has raised its dividend payments for 27 consecutive years, growing its quarterly payouts 36-fold over that time.

While these figures may leave you thinking that the best is already behind the company, its recent fourth-quarter results show that the good times could keep on rolling -- and investors should get to know Roper.

Meet Roper Technologies

Twenty years ago, Roper's five business categories were radio frequency, water, energy, research/medical, and industrial niche markets. Nowadays, things look pretty different, as the company has shifted its focus from industrial applications to technology-first solutions.

Following the sale of its industrial business in 2022, Roper is now a decentralized technology and software-focused behemoth that operates through the following three business segments:

• Application Software (56% of sales): Roper's largest unit serves end markets like acute care healthcare, education, government contracting, property and casualty insurance, legal, and utilities. One of the company's largest businesses in this segment is Deltek. Not only do 98 of the 100 largest federal contractors use Deltek's project-management solutions, but over 10,000 small businesses are powered by its products as well.
• Network Software (20% of sales): This segment helps with areas such as construction data, food supply chains, freight matching, life insurance, media and entertainment, and post-acute healthcare. The company's DAT and Loadlink Technologies subsidiaries combine to form North America's largest freight spot market, providing an array of solutions such as freight matching.
• Technology-Enabled Products (24% of sales): Roper's final unit serves its oldest end markets, with solutions for the water and medical industries. The biggest business line in this unit is Neptune Technology Group, which provides automatic meter readings and advanced metering infrastructure to document data from 72 million meters monthly.

Through this technology-facing portfolio of businesses, 75% of Roper's sales now come from vertical software solutions (think of Toast for restaurants as a classic example of vertical software). By targeting these industry-specific software verticals, over 70% of the company's sales are high-margin and recurring, providing stable and robust profitability for investors.

Improving margins from Roper's tech-industry focus

In transforming from an industrial juggernaut to a decentralized holdings company of vertical software providers, Roper has seen its profitability balloon steadily.

ROP Gross Profit and Operating Margins data by YCharts.

Even better, all of this improved profitability has flowed all the way down to the company's bottom line -- precisely, its free cash flow (FCF). Over the last decade, Roper has grown its FCF by an impressive 22% annually.

This FCF growth is critical since the company uses it to fund its ambitions as a serial acquirer. After snapping up dozens of businesses across the 2000s, Roper has actually spent more on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) since 2005 than it has generated in FCF.

ROP Free Cash Flow and Acquisitions data by YCharts.

After growing revenue and FCF by 14% and 16% in the fourth quarter this year -- despite still integrating two recent acquisitions worth $3.6 billion -- Roper and its acquisitive ways continue to fire on all cylinders. Best yet for investors, management states that it has $5 billion in funds available for new acquisition targets, which should pave the way for further growth.

Ample funding for a quickly growing dividend

Despite its heavy spending on M&A, Roper has grown its dividend payments by 20% annually over the last decade. Even with this quickly rising payout, the company only uses 14% of its FCF to make its payments. This ample wiggle room to continue increasing its dividend payments, combined with its track record of consistently boosting payouts each year, makes Roper a promising dividend growth stock.

While its 0.5% dividend yield may seem too minuscule to worry about (especially since it hasn't been above 1% in over 20 years), Roper has handsomely rewarded long-term investors. Had an investor been patient enough to hold from 2000 until today, they would now receive a 19% dividend payment annually, compared to their original cost basis.

Thanks to its dividend track record, ballooning profitability, and focus on acquisitions in high-margin verticals, Roper Technologies is high on my watchlist of stocks to add to next. Trading at 27 times FCF, it looks like a perfect example of a premium business trading at a fair price.

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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Roper Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.