Owning high-quality dividend stocks has helped me navigate through market volatility over the years, and most especially in 2022. While nobody can be sure where markets will be heading in the next few weeks, months, or years, the direction of great dividend stocks' payouts is much more certain. And that trajectory is an upward one.
More than two dozen of the stocks within my portfolio are Dividend Aristocrats. These are stocks that are both components of the S&P 500 index and have raised their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Here are two dividend stocks that offer payouts among the safest in the world.
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1. Coca-Cola: A titan of the beverages industry
There are few guarantees in life. But it's a guarantee that at some point in your life, you have thirsted for a beverage. And with over 200 beverage brands in its portfolio, including the eponymous Coca-Cola, Powerade sports drink, and Dasani water, Coca-Cola (KO 1.50%) is the largest pure-play beverage company in the world.
Analysts anticipate that the Atlanta, Georgia-based beverage giant will generate $42.7 billion in net revenue in 2022. For context, this is approximately a quarter of the $160 billion global beverages market. The global beverages industry is set to grow at 4% to 5% annually in the years ahead, driven by economic development and population growth around the globe.
Along with Coca-Cola's track record of successfully integrating acquisitions into its business (such as the sports drink brand called BodyArmor), net revenue could grow slightly ahead of the industry as the company gains market share. With this in mind, the analyst consensus of a 5% compound annual growth rate in Coca-Cola's non-GAAP (adjusted) diluted earnings per share (EPS) over the next five years seems conservative.
Income investors will appreciate that the stock's 2.8% dividend yield is significantly higher than the S&P 500 index's 1.6% yield. Given that Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio will clock in at 71% in 2022, the company should have the ability to build on its 60-year dividend growth streak in the future.
And shares of the stock can still be scooped up at an arguably reasonable valuation: Coca-Cola's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.8 is only a tad above the S&P 500 soft drinks industry average forward P/E ratio of 25.4.
2. Albemarle: An electric vehicle play
Lithium will arguably go down as one of the most vital commodities of the 21st century. With lithium-ion batteries widely used in consumer electronics (like smartphones and laptops) and electric vehicles, the demand for lithium will only increase from here on out.
This is especially true given that it is projected that the U.S. sale of electric vehicles will soar from 500,000 in 2021 to 4.7 million by 2030. For context, this would be a nearly nine-fold increase in the electric vehicle penetration rate, from 3.4% to 29.5%.
And with nearly 72% of its $2.1 billion in third-quarter revenue derived from its lithium segment, Albemarle (ALB 0.93%) could be the biggest winner from this unstoppable trend. This is precisely why analysts believe that the company's adjusted diluted EPS will grow at a double-digit annual percentage rate over the next five years.
Albemarle sports a modest 0.6% dividend yield. But with the dividend payout ratio poised to come in at around 7% in 2022, the company should have no trouble building on its reputation of 28 straight years of dividend growth.
Best of all, Albemarle's forward P/E ratio of 13 is just a bit above the diversified chemicals industry average forward P/E ratio of 11.9. That's a valuation that makes the stock a no-brainer buy for investors seeking outsized total returns.
