7 Low-Volatility Dividend Stocks for Peace of Mind

Dividend stocks are a well-worn prescription for what ails an investor's upset stomach. Are a cascade of troubling headlines and fears of Wall Street volatility making you nauseous? A regular stream of cash distributions can help smooth out your returns and restore your sanity.

But investors also are increasingly targeting a more direct solution to volatility: low-volatility funds. These products are designed to piece together a basket of stocks whose movements aren't as exaggerated as the rest of the market, and they're gaining in popularity. The iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (USMV), for instance, had enjoyed nearly $6 billion in net inflows through 2019's midway point. Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV), which is roughly a third of the size of USMV, had brought in $2 billion.

Fortunately, dividends and low volatility aren't an either/or proposition. You can get both, and DIVCON can help us discover these more stable dividend stocks.

The from exchange-traded fund provider Reality Shares examines the payout health of all dividend stocks among Wall Street's 1,200 largest companies. It does that by poring into metrics including profit growth, free cash flow (how much cash companies have left over after they meet all their obligations) and even the Altman Z-score, which helps