Great Dividend Stocks for 2012

With interest rates hovering near zero and unlikely to change soon, it's hard to find attractive investment yields. Volatile trading patterns in stocks have stabilized of late, and many investors have locked on to those with appealing dividends. Getting a nice yield can combine income with upside market potential. U.S. News worked with S&P Equity Research and MarketScope Advisor to find the best-yielding dividends among the small number of stocks—about 120—that carry S&P's highest "strong buy" analyst rating. But be mindful that "strong buy" doesn't translate into "slam-dunk" when it comes to returns.

Ranked by dividend yield, here are S&P's highest-yielding recommended stocks, based on prices late last week. Listings include ticker symbols and thumbnail descriptions provided by S&P MarketScope: Enel SPA (ENEL), Windstream Corp. (WIN), Vodafone (VOD), Shenzhen Expressway Co. Ltd., Allianz SE (ALV), Cosco Pacific, Altria Group (MO), AT&T (T), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) and China Construction Bank,

Source: U.S. News and World Report

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