Investors preparing for an economic slowdown may like dividend-paying stocks, but they should be specific with their strategy, according to Wolfe Research. Dividend-paying names are usually seen as protection during downturns. The U.S. economy is slowing, but economists are mixed on whether they think there will be a recession next year. In a late-cycle environment, dividend growth becomes scarce and investors tend to pay up for names with those income prospects, Wolfe’s chief investment strategist, Chris Senyek, pointed out in a note to clients last week. The best long-term dividend growth strategy is to buy stocks that offer a combination of high dividend growth and high free cash flow yield, the strategist said. “Historically, this cohort of stocks has outperformed by 500+ basis points annually,” he said. “Additionally, this combination performs very well in later cycle/recessionary environments.” Here are 10 names that Wolfe likes for their high dividend growth and free cash flow yields. CVS Health’ s stock may be having a tough time, with shares off more than 3% in the past month. However, income investors are being rewarded with its 3.6% yield. The pharmacy giant has a dividend growth of 10% over the last 12 months, Wolfe said. CVS’ third-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue beat Wall Street’s expectations, a quarter after the pharmacy chain kicked off a cost-cutting program that eliminated 5,000 jobs. The job cuts were largely corporate ones, CEO Karen Lynch told CNBC . “It was really to realign the company so that we can focus our initiatives on our strategy of health-care delivery and technology and we are continuing to hire in those spaces,” she said in an Nov. 8 interview on ” Squawk on the Street .” Kroger ‘s stock has also stumbled this past year, with its shares down about 6% in the past 12 months. Nevertheless, but is giving investors a 2.6% yield. It has dividend growth of 20% over the last 12 months. In September, the grocery store chain posted a beat on adjusted earnings but missed on revenue for its fiscal second quarter. Chip stocks also made the cut, including NXP Semiconductors , Skyworks Solutions and Qualcomm . NXP Semiconductors, for instance, has a 2% dividend yield and last 12 months dividend growth of 32%. It has a 6% estimated free cash flow yield for 2024. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has a 6% estimated free cash flow yield for 2024 and 9% last 12 months dividend growth. The company, which has a 2.5% dividend yield, recently beat on quarterly adjusted earnings and revenue. Qualcomm also gave a strong forecast for the current quarter. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
