"Healthy" Dividend Aristocrats: 6 Great Health-Care Dividends

Sluggish global growth, the U.S. trade war with China and a stock market that's up only about 2% over the past year have some investors thinking about playing defense. And few equities are better at adding ballast to a portfolio than the rock-solid dividend growth stocks in the Dividend Aristocrats - companies in the S&P 500 that have raised their payouts every year for at least 25 consecutive years.

Also, few areas of the market hold up as well in downturns as the health-care sector. Put them together - health-care stocks with multiple decades uninterrupted dividend growth - and investors have a recipe for income and lower risk in their equity portfolios.

Six of the elite Dividend Aristocrats can be found in the health-care sector. These stocks, most of which are household names, have hiked their