If you want your portfolio to cut you a consistent check to use as passive income every quarter from here on out, you'll need to load up on high-quality dividend stocks that'll stand the test of time. 

And if you want that passive income to come from a decent return, the recent pullback in the market created some juicy opportunities. Here are two superb companies that passive income investors should consider.

1. Viatris

As a generic-drug manufacturer, Viatris (VTRS 1.11%) is a company that could become a dividend investor's go-to stock. It owns the right to manufacture and sell generic versions of a bunch of medications that you've probably heard of, like Lipitor, Xanax, and even Viagra. In 2021, its overall sales totaled above $17.9 billion, and for 2022 management forecast a revenue increase of around $525 million (a 3% bump) with the help of some recently launched new generics. Since it's unlikely patients will stop needing the drugs it manufactures, there's a solid chance that it will carry the majority of that new revenue forward on an ongoing basis. 

Presently, Viatris' forward dividend yield is just over 4.1%, and its payout ratio is 71.2% of its earnings. That suggests there is still some room to keep hiking its payment even if earnings growth is hard to come by. But earnings should actually improve somewhat this year as Viatris realizes the remaining cost synergies left over from its spinoff from Pfizer in 2021. Likewise, it still needs to wind up a few divestitures relating to the spinoff, which in total could yield as much as $9.3 billion in cash, and continue with its ongoing debt payoff.

Once those priorities are tackled, Viatris will have more leeway to invest in its development pipeline for growth, not to mention more overhead to return capital to shareholders. Between 2024 and 2028, management is planning to return around 50% of its free cash flow in share buybacks and dividends, with the rest reserved for reinvestment into growth. In that period, it expects that its adjusted earnings per share will rise at a rate between 14% and 16% annually, assuming its upcoming launches in its ophthalmology segment gain the market traction as hoped.

That suggests Viatris is a stock to hold onto for longer holding periods, as the company needs time to repay the costs of setting up a new production line for each additional medicine it decides to offer. But, as it doesn't yet have a long history of paying out a dividend, its investing thesis is essentially unproven, which is a risk.

2. NextEra Energy

NextEra Energy (NEE 1.81%) is the world's largest producer of energy from wind turbines and solar panels, and that's one big reason why it's a stellar dividend stock. The utility operates in the U.S., and since 2000, it made around $162 billion in capital investments to increase its power generating and electricity distribution capacities, building up a massive collection of nuclear, gas, coal, and renewable power stations. It'll be operating those assets for years to come, slowly recouping its cost basis and returning the proceeds to shareholders. 

Though its forward yield is a hair above 2% at the moment, meaning that it'll take quite some time to pay off your initial investment, the company's positioning for the ongoing global transition to greener energy sources is hard to beat, and it's very likely that its dividend will rise over time. From 2006 to 2021, its dividend grew at a compound annual rate of 10%, and in the past 10 years, its trailing-12-month net income rose by 122.2%, reaching more than $3.8 billion. To ensure its earnings continue to grow, NextEra plans to invest as much as $95 billion into new projects between 2022 and 2025, which is likely to generate significant revenue in the decades that follow.

The catch with NextEra is the same as with other utility companies: It'll take a large investment upfront to generate a significant amount of passive income. But, if you have the patience to hold your shares for a long time, you'll witness your income stream grow steadily.