When volatility picks up on Wall Street, smart investors typically turn to dividend stocks. That's because publicly traded companies that pay a regular dividend are usually profitable on a recurring basis and have transparent growth outlooks. In other words, they offer the consistency investors look for during periods of market turbulence.

Perhaps more importantly, income stocks have historically crushed those that don't offer a payout over long periods. In 2013, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, a division of money-center bank JPMorgan Chase, released a report showing that companies initiating and growing their payout between 1972 and 2012 averaged a 9.5% annualized return. In comparison, the nonpayers delivered a meager 1.6% annualized return over the same 40-year timeline.

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Source Fool.com