With interest rates rising after Donald Trump's election victory and in anticipation of a Federal Reserve hike cycle next year, investors are worrying about dividend stock performance in 2017.
Strategas Research Partners told clients dividend investing is "not dead" as long as investors use a more focused strategy.
"Traditional yield proxies — utilities, telecom, staples — have not historically done well as interest rates rise," Strategas' Nicholas Bohnsack wrote in the report Thursday. "The 'dividend trade' is not dead, however. While traditional fixed income remains under pressure, our factor first approach – emphasizing both dividend growth ... and yield ... has historically produced strong results, particularly in periods of rising rates."
He cited how the firm's "Dividend Growth" basket has outperformed the by 10 percentage points this year. In addition, the strategy's average return was higher than the market's performance during rising interest rate time frames since 1993, according to the Strategas.
"More importantly, as rates have moved higher, our basket has dramatically outperformed the sectors conventionally allocated to as bond yield alternatives," he added.
Here is a selection of seven stocks that made the Strategas "Dividend Growth" basket.
