4 Conservative Dividend Stocks That Belong in Every Income Investors Portfolio

All four of these names have very strong cash flows that allow them to not only pay better than 3% dividends, but also to buy back stock. Two are consumer staples, a sector that's been the S&P 500's second-best performer over the past month (up 3.83%). The others are in health care, which has been the S&P 500's No. 3 best sector (+3%) during the past month. Here they are, listed in alphabetical order:

I don't know if there's a more quintessential American company than Coca-Cola (KO) -- a brand that's virtually intertwined with American cultural history. Merck & Co. (MRK) has been a powerhouse drug company for more than 50 years. Like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo (PEP) is a part of U.S. culture, selling famous soft drinks like Pepsi and Mountain Dew, as well as snacks such a Doritos and Lay's potato chips. Pfizer (PFE) is another stalwart U.S. drug manufacturer. All four names above pay shareholders handsomely in the form of dividends and share buybacks (which help to put a floor underneath stock prices). Each also has a beta below 1.0, which means it's less volatile than the S&P 500.

Source: The Street

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