It's a rough time to be an investor. Inflation remains elevated, which is leading the Federal Reserve to continue pushing interest rates higher. That's having a negative impact on the economy and banking system. It's unclear how long it will take the Fed to get inflation under control -- or what damage it might cause in the process.

Despite all those negatives, challenging market periods often provide investors with the best long-term opportunities for those willing to take the plunge. Three stocks that currently look like enticing opportunities to a few Fool.com contributors are Stanley Black & Decker (SWK -0.52%), Clearway Energy (CWEN.A -1.05%) (CWEN -0.97%), and Emerson Electric (EMR -0.14%).

Here's why they think these high-quality dividend stocks could be great long-term investments for those who buy amid all the current turmoil.  

Making hard choices

Reuben Gregg Brewer (Stanley Black & Decker): After a string of acquisitions, Stanley Black & Decker was inefficient and had a bloated balance sheet. Rising inflation and supply chain problems during the coronavirus pandemic upended things enough that management decided to take action. Adjusted earnings falling from $10.48 per share in 2021 to just $4.62 in 2022 probably helped drive change as well.

The company is now working on a multi-year plan that includes debt reduction, cost cutting, and slimming down. On that last point, the company hopes to reduce the individual products it creates by roughly 50%. That's not to suggest that Stanley Black & Decker will stop making, say, tape measures.

But, for example, it will no longer make tape measures under every brand it owns. It's also making tough choices like curtailing production so that it can reduce inventory levels even though this will increase production costs. Overall, management appears to be making the right choices, but it's going to hurt some more before things start to improve.

That's clear from the company's 2023 guidance, which calls for earnings to fall again, to somewhere between breakeven and $2 per share. It's little wonder that investors have punished the stock, which is down around 60% from its early-2021 highs. The yield, however, is currently a historically high 4.1%.

There's a lot of work to be done, but if you can handle some near-term uncertainty, this Dividend King appears to be heading in a reasonable, and better, direction. You can collect a fat dividend check while you await the highly likely recovery.

A fully charged dividend growth engine

Matt DiLallo (Clearway Energy): Shares of Clearway Energy have plunged almost 30% from their 52-week high. Like most dividend stocks, Clearway has fallen out of favor with investors as interest rates have risen. That's because lower-risk investments like government bonds have become more appealing. 

However, with its stock price falling, Clearway Energy is becoming a more attractive dividend stock because its yield is rising. The company's payout is now up to 5.1%. 

That's an enticing level, especially given the dividend growth Clearway sees ahead. The company expects to grow its dividend toward the upper end of its 5% to 8% annual target range through 2026. Clearway has already lined up all the investments it needs to achieve that goal. 

Last year, the company sold its thermal assets, receiving $1.35 billion in cash. It's recycling that capital into higher-yielding renewable energy investments. Clearway has already funded about $700 million of deals across seven transactions. Meanwhile, it has transactions lined up for the remaining proceeds that it should close over the next two years as those renewable energy developments come online and start producing cash. That gives the company high visibility into future cash-flow growth and its ability to increase the dividend. 

Clearway should have plenty of opportunities to continue expanding its clean energy infrastructure portfolio in the future. Its parent company, Clearway Energy Group, has an extensive backlog of renewable energy projects under development. Meanwhile, Clearway has a solid financial profile, giving it the funding flexibility to continue acquiring cash-flowing renewable energy assets. 

With its shares down, yield up, and plenty of power to continue growing its dividend, Clearway Energy looks like a great income stock to buy for the long term right now. 

Exciting times ahead

Neha Chamaria (Emerson Electric): Emerson Electric stock has fallen out of favor lately, down almost 15% so far this year. But the industrials giant is a dividend gem -- it has increased its payout every year for 66 consecutive years. Emerson Electric continues to prioritize dividends and is making some aggressive growth moves to boost margins and shareholder returns.

In fact, it isn't making just any other move. Emerson is transforming itself into an automation company to tap the rapidly growing automation market, and is even trying to acquire National Instruments for all cash in a multibillion-dollar deal. National Instruments is an automated test and virtual instrumentation products maker.

In between, Emerson Electric is rapidly divesting non-core businesses to raise funds that it can then reinvest in more profitable and high-growth areas like automation. For example, the company has struck an agreement to sell its climate technologies business in a deal that will generate pre-tax cash proceeds of $9.5 billion. Emerson Electric can easily use the proceeds to fund big acquisitions.

Of course, Emerson Electric has only bid for National Instruments and there's no guarantee the deal will go through. What investors can be sure of, though, is that they'll still be able to earn reliable dividends from Emerson Electric year after year. Those dividends should also get bigger with time and add substantially to the returns from this 2.5%-yielding dividend growth stock.