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Bet on These 5 Dividend Growth Stocks Amid Volatile Market

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Key Takeaways

  • Wall Street slid amid a tech sell-off and concerns over the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
  • Dividend growth stocks with solid earnings and cash flow histories offer resilience in volatility.
  • Vertiv, Tapestry, HCA Healthcare, Lam Research, and CBOE meet key growth and valuation criteria.

Wall Street tumbled on Nov. 6, 2025, following a notable sell-off in technology stocks, reflecting investors’ concerns about the potential for a slump in companies’ valuations that have benefited from huge investments in artificial intelligence. The U.S. government’s prolonged shutdown, the largest one in history, has also been wreaking havoc on investors’ nerves.

Amid such a tense situation, equity investors might want to avoid high price-yielding stocks and instead look for dividend growth stocks. This is because companies with a history of raising dividends often exhibit strong financial health, providing a defensive hedge against economic uncertainty.

In fact, stocks with a strong history of year-over-year dividend growth form a healthy portfolio with a greater scope of capital appreciation, as opposed to simple dividend-paying stocks or those that have high yields.

We have selected five such dividend growth stocks — Vertiv ((VRT - Free Report) ), Tapestry Inc. ((TPR - Free Report) ), HCA Healthcare ((HCA - Free Report) ), Lam Research ((LRCX - Free Report) ) and CBOE Global Markets ((CBOE - Free Report) ) — which could be solid choices for your portfolio.

Why Is Dividend Growth Better?

Stocks that have a strong history of dividend growth belong to mature companies, which are less susceptible to large swings in the market and thus act as a hedge against economic or political uncertainty as well as stock market volatility. At the same time, these offer downside protection with their consistent increase in payouts.

Additionally, these stocks have superior fundamentals that make dividend growth a quality and promising investment for the long term. These include a sustainable business model, a long track of profitability, rising cash flows, good liquidity, a strong balance sheet and some value characteristics. Further, a strong history of dividend growth suggests a likely increase ahead.

Although these stocks do not necessarily have the highest yields, they have outperformed for a more extended period than the broader stock market or any other dividend-paying stock.

As a result, picking dividend growth stocks appears as a winning strategy when some other parameters are also included.

5-Year Historical Dividend Growth greater than zero: This selects stocks with a solid dividend growth history.

5-Year Historical Sales Growth greater than zero: This represents stocks with a strong record of growing revenues.

5-Year Historical EPS Growth greater than zero: This represents stocks with a solid earnings growth history.

Next 3-5 Year EPS Growth Rate greater than zero: This represents the rate at which a company’s earnings are expected to grow. Improving earnings should help companies sustain dividend payments.

Price/Cash Flow Less Than M-Industry: A ratio less than M-industry indicates that the stock is undervalued in that industry and that an investor needs to pay less for better cash flow generated by the company.

52-Week Price Change greater than S&P 500 (Market Weight): This ensures that the stock has appreciated more than the S&P 500 over the past year.

Top Zacks Rank: Stocks having a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and 2 (Buy) generally outperform their peers in all types of market environments.

Growth Score of B or better: Our research shows that stocks with a Growth Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2, offer the best upside potential.

Just these few criteria narrowed down the universe from more than 7,700 stocks to just 12.

Here are five of the 14 stocks that fit the bill:

Ohio-based Vertiv is a leading global provider of critical digital infrastructure and services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VRT’s 2025 revenues suggests a year-over-year improvement of 27.5%. The stock boasts a long-term (three-to-five years) earnings growth rate of 30% and has an annual dividend yield of 0.08%.

VRT currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 and has a Growth Score of B. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

New York-based Tapestry is the designer and marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men in the United States and internationally. The consensus estimate for TPR’s fiscal 2026 revenues implies a year-over-year improvement of 3.20%. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 7.60% and has an annual dividend yield of 1.46%.

TPR currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 and has a Growth Score of A.

Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare is the largest non-governmental operator of acute care hospitals in the United States. The consensus estimate for HCA’s 2025 revenues suggests a year-over-year improvement of 7.4%. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 12.3% and has an annual dividend yield of 0.61%.

HCA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Growth Score of A.

California-based Lam Research supplies wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry. The consensus estimate for LRCX’s fiscal 2026 revenues implies a year-over-year improvement of 12.7%. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 20.3% and has an annual dividend yield of 0.63%.

LRCX currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Growth Score of A.

Illinois-based CBOE Global Markets is one of the largest stock exchange operators by volume in the United States and a leading market globally for ETP trading. The consensus estimate for CBOE’s 2025 revenues suggests a year-over-year improvement of 13.2%. The stock boasts a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.3% and has an annual dividend yield of 1.15%.

CBOE currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Growth Score of A.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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