These 'dividend aristocrats' offer steady returns in an uncertain market, Credit Suisse says

Published Wed, Jun 1 20224:24 PM EDT

As Wall Street starts another month with further volatility in the markets, Credit Suisse identified some "dividend aristocrats" that could offer investors steady returns. Analysts at the investment bank maintained an overweight rating on dividend stocks, even as they moved down to neutral on value stocks, according to a Friday report from the investment bank. They believe that value is currently overbought, as they expect most of the increases in yields for U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS, are in. Credit Suisse favors "dividend aristocrats," or companies that have steadily raised per-share dividends for the past 25 years in the U.S. Dividends count for 43% of returns in the U.S. since 1995, and these favored dividend stocks have the distinction of outperforming by 20% over the past 12 years, the bank found. They're also cheap. A basket of 14 outperform-rated U.S. stocks surfaced by Credit Suisse offer investors healthy dividend yields, backed by a history of growing dividends per share. Here are 10 so-called dividend aristocrats: International Business Machines is expected to generate a 4.6% dividend yield this year. IBM's hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) are considered major drivers of growth for the company, according to an April report from Argus Research. The technology stock has an absolute 12-month forward price-earnings ratio of 13.4. Chevron is forecasted to generate a 3.4% dividend yield in 2022. The energy company is expected to benefit from rising oil prices worsened by the Ukraine-Russia war. Chevron has a forward P/E ratio of 11.2. Coca-Cola is expected by analysts to generate a 2.6% dividend yield. The company has good pricing power as it deals with greater inflationary costs, according to an April report from Guggenheim Securities. Coca-Cola has a forward P/E ratio of 26. Caterpillar has a dividend yield of 2.2% forecasted for 2022. "Caterpillar has been investing heavily in autonomous machines that could increase the company's total addressable market, according to a May report from Stifel. Caterpillar has a forward P/E ratio of 15.6. Other stocks included in this list are Emerson Electric , Stanley Black & Decker , NextEra Energy , Colgate-Palmolive , Sysco and McDonald's.