The Dividend Aristocrats fared better than many other stocks during 2018. This group of dividend royalty delivered a 3.3% decline for the year including income, less than the 4.4% drop for the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.

The Dividend Aristocrats, for the uninitiated, are a subset of the S&P 500 that have increased their annual dividends without interruption for at least 25 consecutive years. And these 50-plus superstar dividend stocks are noteworthy for several reasons:

• Their yields are generally higher than the index, averaging 2.5% throughout 2018 versus 1.9% for the S&P 500.
• They've also outperformed over the longer term. During the 10-year period ending Sept. 30, 2018, the Aristocrats returned approximately 13.6% annually, compared to 12% for the S&P 500.
• Risk also was lower. Volatility of returns (as measured by standard deviation) averaged 13.6% for Dividend Aristocrats versus 14.4% for S&P 500 stocks.

However, sometimes even great stocks get knocked back a little. These 18 Dividend Aristocrats have posted double-digit price declines over the past year, with most of them still recovering from the fourth-quarter broad-market drubbing. The upside for any investors considering putting new money to work in these dividend stocks: Many are close to multiyear lows, and several yield more than 3%.

Emerson Electric

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Emerson Electric (EMR, $65.33) is a diversified global manufacturer with operations in process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, tools, storage products and appliance solutions. This Fortune 500 company generated sales of $17.4 billion last year.

In fiscal 2018, Emerson Electric exceeded guidance by delivering 14% sales growth and 36% EPS gains while also closing $2.2 billion of acquisitions and returning $2.2 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases.

Recent acquisitions include Aventics, a leader in smart pneumatics technologies for factory automation, and Advanced Engineering Valves, which manufactures specialized valves for the LNG industry. Emerson also plans to acquire General Electric's (GE) Intelligent Platforms business, which delivers automation solutions across various end-markets. This transaction expands Emerson's machine control solutions and footprint in the metals, life sciences, food and beverage and packaging markets.

Emerson targets 8.5% annual growth and expects sales to eclipse $21 billion by 2021. EPS gains targeted at 11.5% per year will be fueled by acquisitions, margin expansion and share repurchases.

The company has an impressive 62-year track record of dividend growth, though its recent velocity has left much to be desired. Payouts have grown by just 2.6% annually over the past five years.

Brown-Forman