It’s official, the Fed increased interest rates by 75 basis points for a second straight meeting. Inflation remains high, job growth is slowing, and consumer confidence is at historic lows.

Maybe that’s why investors are rushing toward dividend investing to protect their portfolios. With a recession likely on the horizon, if we’re not there already, and dividend payouts projected to increase throughout 2022, there are three quality companies you should consider for your portfolio.

The first on the list is in the steel industry and recently announced an acquisition of another company in order to establish a nationwide footprint in the North American steel industry.

Another company is in the pharmaceutical industry and recently entered a partnership to develop and commercialize a minimally invasive glaucoma surgical device, which could lead to a milestone achievement in glaucoma treatment.

Our last company provides consumer packaged goods and recently announced a collaboration with Microsoft (MSFT).

Not only are these three companies growing and adapting to the current market conditions, but they also offer dividends with a history of growing their payouts.

Keep reading to know more about the three dividend stocks you need to know about now.

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Nucor Corp (NUE) manufactures and sells steel and steel products and recently acquired a few companies, including C.H.I. Overhead Doors, Summit Utility Structures and Sovereign Steel Manufacturing. NUE has a history of paying dividends – they’ve done so for 49 consecutive years. They have a dividend yield of 1.57% and an operating margin of 25%.

With high commodity prices, NUE is expecting to finish 2022 with its second consecutive year of record-breaking profits. The stock has more than doubled over the past three years and is currently sitting about 30% off its recent high.

Next is AbbVie (ABBV) with a dividend yield of 3.73%, a beta of 0.72, and a Forward P/E ratio of 12.63 compared to its current P/E ratio of 21.68. ABBV continued to research, develop, and release new products all while paying dividends for the last 9 consecutive years. They have partnered with iSTART Medical SA to work on the glaucoma device they wish to develop and commercialize.

Last up is Proctor Gamble (PG). They partnered with Microsoft to use various cloud-related services to make the company’s manufacturing smarter and more efficient. PG has paid dividends for the last 66 consecutive years and have an annual yield of 2.51%. PG is projecting to close out 2022 with a year-over-year revenue increase of 5.1% and a positive 5-yr earnings-per-share growth rate. PG has a low beta of 0.37.

The combination of capital appreciation and dividends from these three giants could help protect your portfolio in the second half of 2022.