When it comes to total returns received from stock investing, dividends can often play an underrated role. In fact, reinvested dividends accounted for roughly 84% of the S&P 500's total returns from 1960 to 2021. So if you're looking for some dividend stocks that are great buys right now, look no further than the three companies below.

As a bonus, they're all Dividend Kings, companies that have managed to increase their yearly dividend for at least 50 consecutive years. This means they have a history of withstanding bad economic storms and still returning value to their shareholders -- a win-win.

With brands that include its flagship Coca-Cola, Sprite, Minute Maid, Powerade, Dasani, Topo-Chico, and more, you can count on one hand the number of companies that have global brand recognition even remotely close to that of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Up just over 5% year to date (as of Nov. 30), Coca-Cola is one of the few non-Big-Oil companies that's seen its stock price in the green, and there's reason to believe it'll continue.

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Source Fool.com