Roper Technologies

Roper Technologies is a diversified technology company that acquires and operates a collection of niche software and engineered-products businesses, many of them market leaders in specialized fields such as healthcare software, insurance systems and utility metering. Its capital-allocation model, buying cash-generative businesses and letting them run autonomously, is central to how it compounds value. Roper has increased its dividend for more than two decades, funded by strong, growing free cash flow from its recurring-revenue software portfolio. The yield is low because management prioritizes reinvestment and acquisitions over a large payout, so the appeal is a steadily rising dividend attached to a serial compounder rather than a high current income, consistent with its middling income score.