The prospect of higher interest rates for longer than anticipated and rising bond yields have diminished the appeal for dividend stocks. Yet, applying some smart beta strategies to the dividend investing world could fetch higher returns.

This is because the strategy helps to capture market inefficiencies in a transparent way by adding extra metrics like volatility, revenues, earnings, momentum and other fundamental factors to the market cap or rules-based indices. And nothing seems better than picking the dividend growth strategy.

We have selected five dividend growth stocks — The Hershey Company HSY, ParkerHannifin Corporation PH, The Interpublic Group of Companies IPG, Microchip Technology Incorporated MCHP, and McKesson Corporation MCK — that could be solid choices for your portfolio.

Why Dividend Growth Strategy?

Stocks that have a strong history of dividend growth belong to mature companies, which are less susceptible to large swings in the market, and thus act as a hedge against economic or political uncertainty as well as stock market volatility. At the same time, these offer downside protection with their consistent increase in payouts.

Additionally, these stocks have superior fundamentals that make dividend growth a quality and promising investment for the long term. These include a sustainable business model, a long track of profitability, rising cash flows, good liquidity, a strong balance sheet and some value characteristics. Further, a history of strong dividend growth indicates that a dividend increase is likely in the future.

Moreover, a history of dividend growth year over year leads to a healthy portfolio with a greater scope of capital appreciation as opposed to simple dividend paying stocks or those with high yields. Although these stocks do not necessarily have the highest yields, they have outperformed for a longer period than the broader stock market or any other dividend-paying stock.

As a result, picking dividend growth stocks appear as winning strategies when some other parameters are also included.

5-Year Historical Dividend Growth greater than zero: This selects stocks with a solid dividend growth history.

5-Year Historical Sales Growth greater than zero: This represents stocks with a strong record of growing revenues.

5-Year Historical EPS Growth greater than zero: This represents stocks with a solid earnings growth history.

Next 3-5 Year EPS Growth Rate greater than zero: This represents the rate at which a company’s earnings are expected to grow. Improving earnings should help companies sustain dividend payments.

Price/Cash Flow less than M-Industry: A ratio less than M-industry indicates that the stock is undervalued in that industry and that an investor needs to pay less for better cash flow generated by the company.

52-Week Price Change greater than S&P 500 (Market Weight): This ensures that the stock appreciated more than the S&P 500 over the past year.

Top Zacks Rank: Stocks having a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and 2 (Buy) generally outperform their peers in all types of market environment.

Growth Score of B or better: Our research shows that stocks with a Growth Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.

Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just 24.

Here are five of the 24 stocks that fit the bill:

Pennsylvania-based Hershey is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America as well as a global leader in chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery. The company saw a solid earnings estimate revision of 42 cents over the past 30 days for this year, with estimated growth of 10.2%.

At present, HSY has a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score of B. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ohio-based ParkerHannifin is a global diversified manufacturer of motion & control technologies and systems. It provides precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The stock saw a solid earnings estimate revision of 44 cents over the past 30 days for the fiscal year (ending June 2023) and has an estimated earnings growth rate of 4.5%.

ParkerHannifin has a Zacks Rank #2 and Growth Score of B.

New York-based Interpublic Group of Companies provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. The company specializes in consumer advertising, digital marketing, public relations, communications planning and media buying, and specialized communications disciplines. Interpublic Group of Companies saw a solid positive estimate revision of 7 cents over the past 30 days for this year, with an estimated growth rate of 0.7%.

Interpublic Group of Companies has a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score of B.

Arizona-based Microchip Technology is engaged in developing and manufacturing of microcontrollers, memory and analog and interface products for embedded control systems, which are small, low-power computers designed to perform specific tasks. The company has seen a positive earnings estimate revision of 7 cents for the fiscal year (ending March 2023) over the past month and has an expected earnings growth rate of 29.9%.

Microchip Technology has a Zacks Rank #2 and Growth Score of A.

California-based McKesson is a healthcare services and information technology company. The stock has seen a robust earnings estimate revision of $1.15 over the past 30 days for the fiscal year (ending March 2023) and has an expected earnings growth rate of 9.5%.

McKesson has a Zacks Rank #2 and Growth Score of B.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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Parker-Hannifin Corporation (PH) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Hershey Company (The) (HSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (The) (IPG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

McKesson Corporation (MCK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Microchip Technology Incorporated (MCHP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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