The 2022 Bear Market Has Been No Match for These 3 Dividend Kings

As the bear market intensifies, more sectors of the economy are seeing equity valuations tumble. It's not just industrials, consumer discretionary, communications, and tech anymore. Even stodgy and safe consumer staples are getting hit.

However, certain companies have a track record for outlasting a recession and even raising their dividends through tough times. A Dividend King is an S&P 500 component that has paid and raised its dividend for at least 50 years. At a minimum, that means members of this coveted cohort raised their payouts through most of the high-inflation 1970s, the bear market of the early 1980s, the dot-com bubble burst, the great financial crisis, the worst of the U.S.-China trade war, and the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies that endured all of those headwinds and still grew shareholder value are the kind of reliable dividend stocks that many investors want to own during times of uncertainty.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE: NWN), and Genuine Parts (NYSE: GPC) are three Dividend Kings that are well positioned to outlast a prolonged bear market. Here's what makes each a great buy now.

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Source Fool.com