Investors looking to escape the volatility are turning to dividend stocks this year. Nearly $22 billion flowed into dividend exchange-funds in the first quarter of 2026 — the most since the second quarter of 2022, according to Morningstar. While the S & P 500 hit a fresh record on Monday, the market has been rocky this year, thanks to concerns about the Iran war, oil prices and artificial intelligence disruption. In risk-off markets, investors seeking relative safety tend to turn toward dividend payers, said Morningstar strategist Dan Lefkovitz. However, history shows that timing the market never works, he said. "We saw a bounce back in the broad market, and tech led that," he said. "Tech is dividend-light sector, so investors kind of mistimed their dividend stock investments." Instead, investors should buy and hold — and realize that there will be times that dividend stocks outperform and other times when they won't, said Lefkovitz. "Over the long term, I think dividend stocks are a great way to … participate in the equity market, not just for income, but also for total return. But it's important to do it in a risk-aware way," he said. "Stick with them and ride out the performance cycles." With that in mind, CNBC Pro looked for names loved by analysts in the iShares Core High Dividend ETF (HDV) , which tracks the Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index and is composed of high dividend yielding stocks. The stocks have buy or overweight ratings from 55% or more of the analysts that cover the stock and have upside of at least 15% to the average price target, per FactSet. They also have a dividend yield greater than 1.5%, above the S & P 500's current 1.03% yield. AbbVie , which yields 3.4%, has 26% upside to the average price target, according to FactSet. About 74% of the analysts covering the stock rate it a buy or overweight. One of those is Bank of America's Jason Gerberry, who recently upgraded the stock to buy from neutral a day after AbbVie's first-quarter earnings and revenue beat. "[I]ts premium multiple looks warranted given growth near the top of the peer group and limited identifiable portfolio headwinds in the next 7 years," he wrote in an April 30 note. In addition, "[w]e see strong and durable growth prospect in core immunology brands despite increasing competitions, and … room for upside tied to pipeline efforts." ABBV YTD mountain AbbVie year to date Shares of the biopharmaceutical company are down roughly 11% so far this year. Meanwhile, the surge in oil prices has helped power Chevron 21% higher year to date. The company reported mixed results for its first quarter, with its revenue falling short of expectations and adjusted earnings well exceeding them. In an interview with CNBC after the earnings report, CEO Mike Wirth pointed to Chevron's strong business in the United States. He also said the Middle East makes up less than 5% of the company's production. "It was a quarter where we had strong U.S. production, record U.S. refinery runs," he said. "This is the third consecutive quarter of U.S. production greater than 200 million barrels a day." The stock has a 3.9% dividend yield and nearly 17% upside to the average price target, per FactSet. Some 59% of analysts covering the company rate it a buy. PNC Financial Services also made the cut. The stock yields 3.1% and has 16.5% upside to the average price target. Some 75% of the analysts covering PNC rate it a buy. PNC YTD mountain PNC Financial Services year to date The financial services company recently posted an earnings beat for its first quarter, but revenue missed expectations after its acquisition of FirstBank . Shares have gained 3% so far in 2026. Lastly, utility company PPL has a 3.1% dividend yield and 17% upside to the average price target. About 67% of the analysts covering it give it a buy rating. Among those bullish on the stock is Barclays. PPL "offers increasingly visible above-average EPS [earnings-per-share] growth, has a robust economic development pipeline, and a strong balance sheet," analyst Michael Lonegan said in a February note upgrading the stock The company reported an earnings beat on Friday. Shares are up about 3% year to date.
