With volatility edging ever higher, investors have to look for at least a synthetic hedge to help them should there be a sizable correction. One of the best is solid dividend-paying stocks. When the Tsunami of big selling starts, the very first to go are the momentum leaders that have run up on hype and media exposure. In a new research report, the Oppenheimer equity strategy analysts ran screens looking for stocks with good growth prospects that also yield more than the S&P 500 average of 1.9%.

Five Outperform-rated names hit the screen. The companies also matched the metric of having high single-digit free cash flow and double-digit operating and profit margins.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) passed all the tests and trades at an incredibly low 10.2 times trailing earnings. The New York–based quant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies recently opened up a sizable position in the the telecommunications giant. AT&T provides telecommunications services in the United States and globally. Its wireless subsidiaries provide both wireless voice and data communications services across the United States and, through roaming agreements, in a substantial number of foreign countries. Investors are paid an outstanding 5.4% dividend. The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for the stock is $35.75. AT&T closed Tuesday at $34.72.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) trades at a low 14.17 trailing earnings and fits all the specs on the Oppenheimer screen. The company just announced a big new business avenue. It says it will spend $1 billion in the next two years to build out its data centers and invest in engineering and marketing to offer cloud computing services in partnership with telecoms and resellers. Cisco Cloud Services will challenge current existing challengers and models, and their network expertise gives them a strong leg-up to start. Investors are paid a very solid 3.5% dividend. The consensus target for this tech fallen angel is $23.71. Cisco closed Tuesday at $22.34, up more than 3.5%.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) operates in two segments: the Cardiac and Vascular Group and the Restorative Therapies Group. The Oppenheimer team thinks the company has the appropriate strategic focus and has a number of new products in the pipeline that along with continued emerging market performance should lead to acceleration in growth. Longer term, they also believe Medtronic should benefit from its size and scale. Investors are paid a 1.9% dividend. The consensus price objective is $64.31. Medtronic ended trading Tuesday at $59 a share.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is focusing on its Windows product, which has shown serious intent in becoming one of the top players, and perhaps even will unseat iOS as the second most popular operating system after Google’s Android. The Windows phone is now the fastest-growing smartphone platform, and the second most popular smartphone platform in Latin America and India. Microsoft, with its core strength in enterprise for cloud computing products, including Office (via Office365), Onedrive, Sharepoint and OneNote, has long been thought a sleeping giant of cloud computing. The giant may not sleep for much longer. Investors are paid a nice 2.8 % dividend. The consensus price target is $38.84, but Microsoft closed Tuesday at $40.34.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) finally rewarded activist investors when it announced that it was spinning off their California assets into a separate company. Occidental has faced calls from Wall Street and activist investors to split its U.S. business from its international operations, with analysts valuing the assets at a range of between $19 billion to $22 billion. The fact that the company is not an integrated is seen as a huge positive. Without refining or midstream operations, independent exploration and production majors like Occidental will see the full benefit of rising oil prices in their future results. Investors receive a very solid 3.1% dividend. The consensus price objective is $107.05. Occidental closed Tuesday at $94.66.

Investors have learned just how quickly momentum stocks can fall. The old adage that stocks go up like an escalator and down like an elevator was never more apparent than recently. Quality stocks trading at low multiples with attractive dividends can sure make the big volatility sell-off days a lot easier for investors to handle.

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