The Smartest Dividend Aristocrat to Buy With $500 Right Now

Finding great companies isn't as hard as you might think -- the Dividend Aristocrat list is a good starting place.

 The problem is finding great dividend-paying companies that are trading at attractive prices. One name that fits the bill today is deeply out-of-favor Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK).

That said, smart investors think long term and are comfortable going against the grain. Here's why this industrial giant is worth the risk.

Stanley Black & Decker's stock has fallen around 50% so far in 2022. That's a huge decline in a very short period of time. 

That's particularly true given that the company isn't a meme stock or tech darling -- it makes tools and industrial fasteners. But there are some good reasons for the drop.

At the start of the year, management was looking for adjusted earnings to fall between $12 and $12.50 per share. 

That would have translated to earnings-per-share growth in the 15% to 19% range, which is very attractive.

That range was cut to $9.50 to $10.50 when the company reported first-quarter earnings. And with the second-quarter earnings update, it fell even further, to a range of $5 to $6, less than half of what management expected as 2022 got underway.