Some things are just meant to go together: movies and popcorn, snow and Christmas, and the beach and sunshine. Some, like water and oil or the Dallas Cowboys and playoff wins, just don’t mix.

Growth stocks and strong dividends usually fall into the latter camp, as companies dedicated to growth often reinvest their profits into the business, while dividend payers typically aren't concerned with growth at all costs.

But the market is a vast landscape full of thousands of stocks, and every now and then, you'll stumble across a dividend-paying company with a stock that is poised for an upward burst.

Today, we'll look at five stocks that meet such a criterion.

Each stock listed here yields over 2% and has posted annualized five-year dividend growth of at least 10%. In addition, each stock has a Benzinga Edge Momentum Score of at least 80.

Morgan Stanley

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 86.86

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is one of the last companies you might think of when considering stocks with growth potential. Still, its recent pivot to fee-heavy investment and wealth management has investors salivating over its potential in 2026.

Morgan Stanley has surpassed more than $8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) and pays a dividend yield of 2.14%. Despite the relatively low yield, the dividend is very sturdy, thanks to its 41% payout ratio and a five-year annualized growth rate of 22.4%.

The company reports earnings on January 15th, and analysts expect another solid quarter, with Q4 revenue exceeding $17.4 billion. The stock also already received its first price target boost of the year, as Barclays boosted its target from $183 to $219.

After a quiet 2025, merger and acquisition (M&A) and IPO activity is expected to pick up in 2026. Increased corporate activity and record revenue are giving MS a strong bull case, and the chart shows a stock with strong momentum and several encouraging technical signals. The 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) are aligned in an uptrend, and a bullish Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) cross confirms the stock’s big advance in the last two sessions.

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Eni SpA

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 84.75

Eni (NYSE:E) is an Italian oil and gas conglomerate with quasi-national status and operations on five different continents. The firm has a market cap of just under $58 billion, with the Italian government as the largest shareholder, holding 30% of the company.

Despite being beholden to government interest, Eni has been an innovative and profitable company, unlocking value by spinning off different units to free up capital. Plenitude and Enilive (which operate in renewables) are two examples of this; both were former divisions of Eni that now operate as their own entities and raise their own capital. Eni benefits by bolstering its cash position while still maintaining a stake in the spinoffs. 

Eni has a strong dividend, yielding just under 6% on the back of 12.9% annualized growth over the last five years. The payout ratio is over 90%, but spinning off its low-carbon businesses should unlock future cash flows and help sustain the payout.

E shares are also showing signs of strength on the daily chart; the typical 50-day SMA support level is prominent, but the MACD suggests buyers are multiplying and momentum is intensifying toward the upside. Eni might be the best combination of steady income and outsized stock appreciation on our list, but it trades as an American Depository Receipt (ADR), so foreign currency and transaction headwinds must be considered, too.

Banc of California Inc.

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 84.31

Banc of California (NYSE:BANC) entered the mainstream radar following its much-publicized merger with Pacific Western, and today the company is one of the premier mid-size regional banks in the western U.S.

Analysts project outsized EPS growth from BANC in 2026, which could help bolster plans to return even more capital to shareholders. The company's $150 million share repurchase program will conclude in March, and it has generated dividend growth of 15.8% in the last five years.

The yield is currently just over 2%, but with merger momentum behind it (plus a 23% payout rate and a 4.3 coverage ratio), BANC has plenty of room to aggressively raise its dividend in 2026.

Avoiding shaky commercial real estate has helped boost BANC's profits, and the stock is up nearly 30% in the last 12 months. The chart also shows promise, with the telltale signs of an uptrend. The price is comfortably above the 50-day and 200-day SMAs, with the 50-day acting as resistance. The stock spent much of December in Overbought territory according to the RSI, but now the indicator is back under 70, and the next leg of the rally can begin.

Johnson Outdoors Inc.

Benzinga Edge Momentum Score: 85.18

Johnson Outdoors (NASDAQ:JOUT) hopes to ride the K-shaped economic trend in 2026, where affluent consumers do the bulk of the consuming. Outdoor sports and recreation are big business, but also very targeted and highly cyclical.

Johnson Outdoors has been on the low end of one of those cycles lately, and its 125% dividend payout ratio doesn't exactly scream safety in a $469 million company. But the firm is uniquely positioned for success this year. Its balance sheet is nearly debt-free, and Johnson Outdoors used its healthy $127 million net cash position to satisfy its dividend obligations without financial strain. If the company meets internal cost-cutting goals and returns to profitability by Q2 2026, JOUT shares will be an intriguing value play.

The dividend yield is currently a healthy 3.04%, representing a five-year annualized growth rate of over 14%. With the dividend stronger than the balance sheet indicates, investors have rallied to JOUT shares. The stock is up over 27% in the last year, including nearly 11% in the previous month alone. A bullish technical pattern has developed, with the 50-day SMA acting as support and the RSI comfortably below the Overbought threshold, yet trending upward.

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