Owning dividend-paying stocks can be one of the most rewarding forms of investing. Not only do you get directly rewarded with cash for the financial risks you take by investing, but that cash gets paid based on the underlying health of the business, not the immediate whims of the market. That gives you a chance to take home cash even when the market is slumping -- and potentially even use that cash to buy more shares while they're cheap.
Still, not every dividend-paying stock is worth owning. Some of the ones with the highest apparent dividends per dollar invested are in fact yield traps -- companies whose dividends are unsustainable and at serious risk of being cut. With that in mind, the best dividend companies are those that cover their dividend from their operations and look capable of continuing to pay -- or potentially even raise -- those payments. Here are 20 stocks that pay you to own them and that look like they just might fit that bill.
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