Short answer: In July 2022, the strongest dividend-stock candidates depended on the investor’s objective. Medtronic and Texas Instruments offered the best balance of business quality and dividend growth; Comcast was a notable contrarian value idea; Essex Property Trust stood out among income-oriented REITs; and T. Rowe Price offered unusually high value income, but with meaningful market-cycle risk. Altria, Franklin Resources, and Whirlpool offered higher yields, yet belonged in a separate high-risk category rather than beside conservative dividend growers.
This is a historical review of the July 2022 investment case, not a current stock list or 2026 recommendation. The yields, prices, payout ratios, and valuations below were snapshots from that period and have changed. A dividend streak or high yield also never guarantees future income.
Why there was no single “best” dividend stock in July 2022
Contemporaneous articles used different definitions of “best.” One broad Motley Fool list, using prices from the July 7, 2022 trading session, included Deere, Microsoft, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Intel, Caterpillar, Realty Income, T. Rowe Price, Logitech, and Pool. That is a mixture of lower-yield technology companies, industrial cyclicals, a REIT, and traditional income candidates.
A July 1 dividend-growth list emphasized Comcast, Essex Property Trust, Medtronic, T. Rowe Price, and VF Corp. A separate screening approach ranked Dividend Radar companies using quality, dividend growth, trailing total returns, and discounts to estimated “Buy Below” prices. Other coverage focused simply on companies that had recently raised their dividends, including Landstar, Greene County Bancorp, EQT, Scholastic, and PPG.
#1 Best Overall
Those lists were not necessarily contradictory. They were answering different questions:
- Maximum current income: favoring stocks such as Altria, asset managers, or cyclical companies.
- Dividend growth: accepting a lower starting yield in exchange for potentially faster increases.
- Defensive income: emphasizing recurring demand and cash-flow resilience.
- Contrarian value: buying a temporarily unpopular company at a lower valuation.
- Total return: accepting a modest yield from a company with stronger earnings and dividend-growth potential.
The most defensible historical answer is therefore category-based rather than a universal ranking.
What the market looked like in July 2022
July 2022 was a difficult environment in which dividend stocks looked attractive partly because share prices had fallen, mechanically pushing yields higher. But it was not a simple “buy the dip” market.
| Development | Why it mattered to dividend investors |
|---|---|
| Inflation | The June consumer-price report released on July 13 showed a 9.1% year-over-year increase, intensifying concerns about household purchasing power, input costs, and recession risk. See the BLS CPI archive. |
| Federal Reserve tightening | On July 27, the Fed raised the federal-funds target range by 75 basis points to 2.25%–2.50%. Higher rates pressured richly valued growth stocks and rate-sensitive REITs while raising the cost of debt and refinancing. See the Federal Reserve announcement. |
| Relief rally | The S&P 500 gained approximately 9.2% in July, the Nasdaq rose about 12.4%, and the Dow gained roughly 6.8%. The rally did not prove that the bear market or economic slowdown was over. See Nasdaq’s July 2022 market wrap. |
| Dividend increases continued | S&P Dow Jones Indices reported that U.S. common indicated dividend payments increased by $17.6 billion in the second quarter, following an $18.2 billion increase in the first quarter and a $12.9 billion increase in the second quarter of 2021. The 12-month indicated dividend gain through June was $74.8 billion. See the S&P Dow Jones report. |
Each force created a different risk. Inflation could help companies with pricing power but hurt businesses facing higher wages, materials, freight, or energy costs. Rising rates could make a dividend yield more competitive with bonds, but they also reduced the valuation investors were willing to pay for long-duration growth and increased financing costs for REITs and leveraged companies. Energy and commodity businesses generated strong cash flow in parts of the cycle, but their earnings remained exposed to commodity prices.
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How to judge a dividend stock
A high yield is an output of a stock’s price and dividend, not proof of quality. A useful evaluation separates five questions.
- Is the dividend covered? Examine recurring earnings and free cash flow, the balance sheet, debt maturities, and the company’s willingness to preserve cash during a downturn.
- Can the dividend grow? Look at five- and 10-year increases, the size of recent raises, and whether future earnings can support higher payments.
- Is the underlying business durable? Recurring demand, pricing power, customer switching costs, competitive advantages, and recurring revenue matter more than a long record by itself.
- Is the valuation reasonable? Compare price-to-earnings, price-to-free-cash-flow, price-to-FFO, or the current yield with the company’s own history and its peers.
- What is the total-return opportunity? Dividend income is only one component. Earnings growth, buybacks, debt reduction, and a possible valuation recovery determine whether the investment can compound wealth.
Yield versus dividend growth
High-yield stocks provide more income immediately, but often have slower growth or greater business risk. Dividend-growth stocks may start with a 2%–3% yield but raise the payment faster. A long streak is useful evidence of past shareholder distributions, yet it is not a guarantee: a company can keep a streak alive with a token increase while its operations deteriorate.
For illustration, a $10,000 investment at a 4% starting yield produces $400 in first-year income. A 2.5% yield produces $250. If the first dividend grows by 3% annually, its year-10 payment would be about $521. If the second grows by 10% annually, its year-10 payment would be about $589. This simplified example ignores taxes, reinvestment, price changes, and dividend cuts; it shows why both starting yield and growth rate matter.
Why payout ratios need context
A payout ratio based on GAAP earnings can be misleading when earnings contain impairments, large noncash charges, unusually strong cyclical profits, or other distortions. REITs should generally be examined through funds from operations and adjusted FFO or AFFO. Asset managers require attention to assets under management, net flows, fee rates, operating margins, and cash generation. MLPs are better assessed through distributable cash flow, leverage, structure, and commodity exposure.
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| Stock | July 2022 category | Historical snapshot | Primary risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medtronic (MDT) | Defensive dividend growth | 8% dividend increase; $0.68 quarterly and $2.72 annualized dividend; 45 consecutive years of increases | Product, regulatory, supply-chain, and growth risk |
| Texas Instruments (TXN) | Quality dividend growth | Approximately 2.76% yield at $164 in the cited analysis; strong growth and free-cash-flow focus | Semiconductor and industrial cyclicality |
| Comcast (CMCSA) | Contrarian value | Below $40 and approximately 2.7% yield in the July analysis; 34.8% payout ratio | Cord-cutting, streaming competition, and capital intensity |
| Essex Property Trust (ESS) | Income-and-growth REIT | Approximately 3.4% yield; 28-year increase record; price-to-cash-flow ratio of 16.6 versus a five-year average of 21.7 | Rates, refinancing, apartment supply, and California concentration |
| Realty Income (O) | Recurring income REIT | Included in the Motley Fool’s July list; monthly distributions and broad tenant diversification | Rate sensitivity, debt costs, and tenant quality |
| T. Rowe Price (TROW) | Value income | Approximately 4% yield, 11.1% regular dividend increase, and single-digit P/E in the July analysis | Market declines, outflows, and fee compression |
| Altria (MO) | High yield, high risk | High current income and strong historical cash generation | Declining cigarette volumes, regulation, litigation, and product-transition risk |
| Franklin Resources (BEN) | High yield, high risk | High yield and value appeal | Asset outflows, market exposure, and fee pressure |
| Whirlpool (WHR) | Cyclical high yield | Cheap, high-yield consumer-durable idea | Housing, input costs, and consumer demand |
| VF Corp (VFC) | Warning case | Strong historical dividend-growth record but weak long-term revenue and EPS growth already visible in July 2022 | Business deterioration and reduced earnings coverage |
All figures in this table are historical snapshots, not current metrics. Yields change whenever share prices or dividend policies change.
Best dividend-growth candidates from July 2022
1. Medtronic: the strongest defensive dividend-growth candidate
Medtronic was one of the most defensible July 2022 ideas for an investor prioritizing a durable dividend and relatively defensive demand. The medical-device business is not immune to recessions, but healthcare procedures and devices generally have less direct exposure to discretionary consumer spending than appliances, apparel, or advertising.
In May 2022, Medtronic announced an 8% increase, raising the quarterly dividend to $0.68 and the annualized payout to $2.72. The increase marked the company’s 45th consecutive year of dividend increases. For fiscal 2022, revenue rose 5%, operating cash flow reached $7.3 billion, and free cash flow reached $6.0 billion, according to Medtronic’s results announcement.
That combination—long dividend history, substantial cash generation, and a product category tied to healthcare demand—made Medtronic a better defensive candidate than a stock selected solely for its yield. The counterargument was growth. A long streak does not compensate for weak future earnings expansion, and medical-device companies can suffer from recalls, regulatory issues, supply shortages, foreign-exchange movements, and slower procedure volumes.
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Historical verdict: Medtronic was among the best candidates for a conservative dividend-growth portfolio, provided the investor accepted moderate rather than exceptional operating growth.
2. Texas Instruments: lower yield, higher-quality compounding potential
Texas Instruments illustrated why the best dividend stock does not necessarily have the highest starting yield. A July 2022 analysis cited a yield of approximately 2.76% at a $164 share price, along with strong dividend growth, share repurchases, and management’s emphasis on free cash flow.
The company’s analog and embedded semiconductors serve industrial and automotive applications as well as consumer electronics. That end-market mix was important in 2022 because it offered exposure to longer-lived industrial and automotive demand rather than relying exclusively on short product cycles in consumer devices. Texas Instruments’ capital-allocation record also made it relevant to total-return investors who wanted income plus buybacks.
The risks were substantial. Semiconductor demand is cyclical, and inventory corrections can arrive after periods of strong orders. Industrial and automotive slowdowns can reduce demand, while domestic manufacturing expansion requires heavy capital investment before it produces returns. The initial yield was also lower than that of the high-yield names discussed later.
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3. Comcast: the contrarian value candidate
The July 1 dividend-growth analysis highlighted Comcast below $40 with an indicated yield of approximately 2.7%, a payout ratio of 34.8%, and 15 consecutive years of dividend increases. That analysis also cited long-term revenue and earnings-per-share compound annual growth rates of 7.1% and 11.5%, respectively. These figures and the valuation argument belong to the cited analyst’s historical framework; they are not objective intrinsic-value estimates.
The investment case was that broadband could offset the decline of traditional pay television. The shares had fallen more than 20% year to date in the cited analysis, making the valuation appear contrarian. A low payout ratio provided room for additional dividend increases if earnings remained healthy.
Comcast’s weaknesses were equally important. Cord-cutting threatened the traditional television business, broadband faced competition from wireless and fiber providers, and streaming made media assets difficult to value. Broadband infrastructure also requires significant capital spending. A low payout ratio cannot protect the dividend if the business loses customers or earnings power.
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Best income and REIT candidates
Essex Property Trust: quality apartment income at a depressed valuation
Essex Property Trust was the strongest REIT candidate in the July dividend-growth discussion. The cited analysis used an approximate 3.4% yield, 28 consecutive years of dividend increases, a 7.2% 10-year dividend-growth rate, and a 63.1% payout ratio. Its price-to-cash-flow ratio was approximately 16.6, compared with a five-year average of 21.7.
The business case was straightforward: apartments address an essential housing need, and the stock had fallen approximately 26% year to date in the cited analysis. The company had also raised guidance for funds from operations per share, same-property revenue, and same-property net operating income in the most recent quarter referenced.
However, REIT analysis must not rely on ordinary EPS alone. Investors should examine:
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- Same-property NOI and rent growth.
- Occupancy and the supply of competing apartments.
- Debt maturities, fixed versus floating-rate exposure, and refinancing costs.
- The dividend payout relative to FFO or AFFO.
Essex also had meaningful California exposure, creating regulatory and regional economic concentration. Rising rates could reduce REIT valuation multiples and increase financing costs even if property-level operations remained solid.
Historical verdict: Essex Property Trust was a reasonable candidate for the best income-and-growth REIT category, but it was not a low-volatility bond substitute.
Realty Income: dependable payment schedule, but not rate-proof income
Realty Income appeared on the Motley Fool’s July 2022 list. Its broad tenant diversification, regular monthly distribution, and long record of payments made it attractive to investors seeking recurring income.
The monthly schedule, however, should not dominate the analysis. A monthly dividend is not economically safer than a quarterly dividend. Investors should focus on tenant quality, lease duration, acquisition discipline, AFFO payout, leverage, and debt maturities. REIT valuations can be sensitive to interest rates, and refinancing becomes more expensive as debt rolls over.
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Historical verdict: Realty Income was a useful income-stock comparison and a recognizable REIT candidate, but its payment frequency did not eliminate rate, credit, or valuation risk.
T. Rowe Price: the best value-income candidate, with a major caveat
T. Rowe Price offered one of the most attractive combinations of current yield and valuation in the July 2022 material. The cited analysis indicated an approximately 4% yield, a 10-year dividend-growth rate of 13.3%, a 38.8% payout ratio, and a single-digit P/E ratio.
The company increased its regular quarterly dividend by 11.1% in February 2022, from $1.08 to $1.20 per share. T. Rowe Price’s filings described the 2022 increase as part of a long record of annual recurring dividend increases; its dividend-history materials also distinguish recurring dividends from special dividends. That distinction matters because the 2021 special dividend should not have been annualized as ordinary recurring income. See the company’s 2022 dividend filing, annual filing, and dividend history.
The high yield partly reflected a sharply lower share price, not a sudden transformation into a risk-free income business. Asset managers earn fees based substantially on assets under management and the products clients hold. Falling equity and bond markets can reduce assets and fee revenue even without net redemptions. Long-term outflows, passive-investing competition, fee compression, and margin pressure can further weaken earnings.
A proper T. Rowe Price review therefore requires more than a payout ratio from a strong year. Check assets under management, net flows, fee rates, operating margin, cash generation, buybacks, and whether any special distribution is truly recurring.
Historical verdict: T. Rowe Price was arguably the best value-income candidate for a risk-tolerant dividend investor, but it was less defensive than Medtronic or a consumer-staples company.
High-yield stocks that required extra caution
A contemporaneous video list identified Whirlpool, Franklin Resources, and Altria as cheap, high-yield July 2022 ideas. These stocks belonged in a separate bucket. High yield often results from a falling share price, and the market may be discounting a real deterioration in earnings or the dividend’s future coverage.
Altria
Altria offered high current income and strong historical cash generation. The risks included declining cigarette volumes, regulation, litigation, and the uncertain economics of reduced-risk and next-generation products. A large current yield could compensate investors for those risks, but it did not make the business defensive in the broad sense.
Franklin Resources
Franklin Resources offered value appeal and a high yield, but asset-management earnings are tied to market valuations, investor flows, fee rates, and product competitiveness. A broad market decline can reduce assets under management and revenue. Investors should treat the yield as cyclical income unless recurring cash flow remains durable through a prolonged downturn.
Whirlpool
Whirlpool was a cyclical consumer-durables manufacturer. Housing activity, replacement demand, consumer confidence, steel and other input costs, freight, and retailer inventories all affected the investment case. A payout ratio can look comfortable during peak earnings and become much less reassuring when the cycle turns.
VF Corp: the warning case
VF Corp’s brands and dividend history made it look attractive in some July 2022 screens. The cited analysis referenced approximately 12.4% 10-year dividend growth and an approximately 59.7% payout ratio, but it also acknowledged weak long-term revenue and EPS growth.
Rank #4
That combination demonstrates why a dividend record cannot substitute for operating analysis. Brand strength does not guarantee successful execution, and a reasonable payout ratio can deteriorate quickly if earnings fall. An apparently undervalued stock can remain cheap—or become cheaper—when the business is losing momentum.
Historical verdict: VF Corp was better treated as a warning about yield and streak-based analysis than as a core conservative dividend holding.
Other high-yield risk patterns
The same caution applied to other July 2022 categories. Tobacco companies faced regulatory and volume risks. Energy producers had commodity-price exposure. REITs faced refinancing and interest-rate risks. MLPs required analysis of distributable cash flow, leverage, organizational structure, commodity exposure, and tax-reporting complexity. None should be selected solely because the indicated yield was large.
A transparent July 2022 scorecard
The following is a qualitative historical framework, not a current rating and not a guarantee of dividend safety. Scores from 1 to 5 reflect the evidence and risks visible around July 2022. The weighting gives the greatest importance to coverage and financial resilience.
| Criterion | Weight | What to measure |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend safety | 30% | Recurring earnings or cash-flow coverage, leverage, balance sheet, and downturn resilience |
| Business quality | 20% | Competitive advantage, recurring demand, pricing power, and customer durability |
| Dividend growth | 15% | Five- and 10-year growth, consistency, and capacity for future increases |
| Valuation | 20% | P/E, P/FCF, P/FFO, or yield relative to history and peers |
| Total-return potential | 15% | Earnings growth, buybacks, debt reduction, and possible valuation recovery |
For REITs, replace earnings-based measures with FFO or AFFO. For asset managers, add assets under management, net flows, fee rates, and operating margins. For MLPs, use distributable cash flow and leverage.
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| Stock | Safety | Quality | Growth | Value | Total-return potential | Historical role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Instruments | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | High-quality dividend growth |
| Comcast | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | Contrarian value |
| T. Rowe Price | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | Value income with market-cycle risk |
| Essex Property Trust | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Income-and-growth REIT |
| Medtronic | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Defensive dividend growth |
| Realty Income | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Recurring REIT income |
| Franklin Resources | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | High-yield value |
| Altria | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | High current income, structural risk |
| Whirlpool | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Cyclical high yield |
| VF Corp | 2 | 3 | 4 historically | 4 | 2 | Warning case |
The scores explain why a stock can have an attractive valuation without being a good conservative income holding. They also show why Texas Instruments could rank highly despite its lower starting yield, while Altria could provide more immediate income but score poorly on growth and structural durability.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the July 2022 lists got right—and what they missed
They used incompatible meanings of “best”
The Motley Fool’s list placed companies such as Microsoft, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor, and industrial names alongside Realty Income and T. Rowe Price. That breadth is reasonable if the goal is total return, but misleading if a reader assumes every stock is intended to maximize current income. A sound article must identify its objective before ranking securities.
They used data that became stale immediately
The Motley Fool explicitly used prices from July 7, 2022. A yield or valuation from that date should never be presented as current. Every historical figure needs a date and a definition: indicated regular yield, trailing yield, GAAP payout, adjusted payout, or cash-flow payout.
They did not always separate regular and special dividends
Special dividends can make a stock’s trailing yield look unusually high. T. Rowe Price’s 2021 special dividend was not the same as its recurring quarterly distribution and should not have been treated as guaranteed annual income.
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They sometimes underweighted deterioration
VF Corp’s brand portfolio and dividend history received attention even though weak revenue and EPS growth were already acknowledged. The lesson is not that every company with slowing growth must be rejected; it is that the deterioration should be central to the decision, not hidden beneath the yield.
Recent dividend increases were not the same as best long-term investments
Lists of companies that had recently raised dividends—including Landstar, Greene County Bancorp, EQT, Scholastic, and PPG—answered a narrower question. A recent increase is evidence of management’s latest decision, not proof of valuation, business quality, or long-term dividend safety.
Hindsight: how to audit the July 2022 recommendations fairly
A later stock-price winner is not automatically the best July 2022 recommendation. The original case must be separated from the outcome. At the time, an investor could reasonably know the published price, dividend, financial statements, guidance, valuation, and disclosed risks. The investor could not know future earnings, policy decisions, acquisitions, dividend actions, recessions, or market prices with certainty.
A proper audit should use three periods:
- At-the-time case: What information was available on the stated recommendation date?
- Short-term result: Total return from that date through December 31, 2022.
- Long-term result: Total return through a clearly stated later date, using adjusted prices and reinvested dividends.
The calculation should include dividends received, stock splits, spin-offs, acquisitions, and dividend cuts or freezes. It should be compared with the S&P 500 Total Return Index, not merely the index price. A useful thesis audit asks:
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- As a day trader, you can live and work anywhere in the world. You can decide when to work and when not to work.
- You only answer to yourself. That is the life of the successful day trader. Many people aspire to it, but very few succeed. Day trading is not gambling or an online poker game.
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- Did the company’s cash flow support the dividend?
- Did the dividend grow as expected?
- Did the business improve, remain stable, or deteriorate?
- Was the original valuation thesis reasonable given the available information?
- Did the stock’s total return compensate investors for the risks identified at the time?
The historical material used for this article documents the July 2022 cases but does not provide a common end date, adjusted-price series, dividend-reinvestment results, or a complete later corporate-action record. It would therefore be misleading to publish precise hindsight returns without separately verifying those inputs. The responsible conclusion is that Medtronic, Texas Instruments, Comcast, Essex, and T. Rowe Price were different kinds of opportunities—not that a later price chart alone proves one was objectively best.
Practical mistakes to avoid
Buying solely before an ex-dividend date
Buying before an ex-dividend date does not create free value. All else equal, the share price generally adjusts downward around the ex-dividend date by approximately the dividend amount. The practical issue is eligibility: buying on the ex-dividend date or later generally means the seller, not the buyer, receives that dividend. See the DivGro discussion of ex-dividend mechanics.
Choose a stock because of its business, valuation, and sustainable distribution—not because a payment is imminent.
Using the wrong payout ratio
Do not compare a REIT’s GAAP earnings payout with a manufacturer’s free-cash-flow payout as if they measure the same thing. Use FFO or AFFO for REITs, recurring cash flow for asset managers, and distributable cash flow for MLPs. For cyclical companies, test coverage across a normal cycle rather than relying on peak-year earnings.
Treating a streak as a guarantee
Dividend Aristocrat and Dividend King labels describe long histories of increases, but neither label guarantees future earnings, cash flow, or payout growth. A company can protect a streak by making a very small increase while reducing investment, borrowing more, or selling assets.
Building a portfolio from five names
A five-stock watchlist is not a diversified portfolio. Comcast, T. Rowe Price, Essex, Medtronic, and Texas Instruments have different businesses, but an investor could still become concentrated in U.S. equities, particular sectors, or similar macroeconomic risks. Consider position sizing, international exposure, sector limits, and whether a diversified dividend-growth ETF is more suitable than selecting individual companies.
Tax treatment also depends on jurisdiction, account type, holding period, and whether a distribution is qualified, nonqualified, or otherwise treated differently. Investors should not make a stock decision based on a generic tax assumption.
Final ranking by investor type
| Investor objective | Most defensible historical category | Candidate or approach |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative income | Defensive dividend growth | Medtronic; a diversified dividend ETF may reduce single-company risk |
| Dividend growth and compounding | High-quality lower-yield growth | Texas Instruments or Medtronic |
| Contrarian value | Moderate-yield value recovery | Comcast |
| REIT income and growth | Apartment or diversified net-lease income | Essex Property Trust or Realty Income, evaluated through FFO/AFFO |
| High current income with high risk tolerance | Value-income or structural-risk names | T. Rowe Price, Altria, Franklin Resources, or Whirlpool—with explicit risk limits |
| Simple portfolio construction | Diversification rather than stock selection | A broad dividend-growth or dividend-income ETF |
These classifications describe the July 2022 setup only. They are not current buy or sell ratings, and the companies’ present valuations, dividends, financial results, and corporate structures must be checked independently before any investment decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Were these actually the best dividend stocks to buy in July 2022?
There was no objective winner because different lists optimized for different goals. Medtronic and Texas Instruments were the strongest historical dividend-growth candidates, Comcast was the clearest contrarian value idea, Essex Property Trust was a notable REIT candidate, and T. Rowe Price offered value income with greater market-cycle risk. Those conclusions describe the information available in July 2022, not current recommendations.
Should investors buy a stock just before its ex-dividend date?
Generally, no. The share price typically adjusts downward by approximately the dividend amount around the ex-dividend date, all else equal. Buying before the date determines dividend eligibility, but it does not create a free return.
How should REIT dividends be analyzed?
Use FFO, adjusted FFO or AFFO, same-property NOI, occupancy, rent growth, debt maturities, interest-rate exposure, and the payout relative to AFFO. Ordinary GAAP earnings alone can give a misleading picture of a REIT’s distribution capacity.
Does a long dividend-growth streak prove that a dividend is safe?
No. A streak records past increases. It does not guarantee future earnings, cash flow, or dividend growth. Investors should also examine the business model, balance sheet, payout coverage, capital needs, and whether operating results are improving or deteriorating.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe Bottom Line
Bottom line: The best dividend stocks of July 2022 were not simply the stocks with the highest yields. Medtronic and Texas Instruments offered the strongest quality-and-growth profiles; Comcast was the more contrarian value choice; Essex Property Trust and Realty Income represented different forms of REIT income; and T. Rowe Price offered high-yield value with clear asset-management cyclicality. Altria, Franklin Resources, Whirlpool, and VF Corp showed why yield and dividend history must be tested against business risk. Because these were July 2022 snapshots, none should be treated as a current investment recommendation.
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