Finding stocks that can outperform the overall market is easy if you don't mind accepting a heap of risk. Stocks that can deliver a market-beating beating performance without exposing you to much risk, though, are few and far between.

An easy way to narrow the universe of stocks to those most likely to outperform is by selecting ones with established dividend programs. During the 50-year period that ended 2023, the average dividend-paying stock in the benchmark S 500 index delivered a 9.17% return annually, according to Ned Davis Research and Hartford Funds. Non-dividend payers in the same index returned just 4.27% per year on average, and these underperforming stocks were more likely to exhibit wild price swings.

(NASDAQ: MSFT) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) are two dividend payers from the S 500 with heaps of upside according to the investment bank analysts who follow them. Here's a look at what they have to say to see if they could be a good fit for your portfolio.

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Source Fool.com