If you can buy high-quality dividend stocks when other investors sour on them, you can plant the seeds for robust returns in the future. And that's exactly why it might be worth buying shares of (NYSE: ABBV) like it's about to go out of style.

Despite its fully expected, yet ultimately abysmal, first-quarter earnings, the 1% total return of its shares over the last 12 months is still above and beyond the 4% loss for the SPDR S 500 ETF Trust, the ETF tracking the S 500 index. Few other players could see their earnings evaporate and still outperform the overall market. Here's why AbbVie can do it, and why it could be a smart investment for long-term holding.

AbbVie is one of the world's pharmaceutical leaders, and that's one of the core reasons that it's a relatively safe dividend stock. Its forward dividend yield is currently in the ballpark of 4%, which is higher than that of many of its big pharma competitors. Over the last five years, its dividend has risen by 54%, and management is keen to keep the good times rolling.

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Source Fool.com