Barron’s recently screened the 65 S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats to find the best stocks with dividend yields that have held steady, even as their stock prices have faltered.

“Consistent dividend growth is a good foundation for solid long-term returns and a sign of sound capital-allocation priorities. The Aristocrats have paid out a higher dividend every year for at least 25 years,” the financial publication explained.

In an effort to focus on large-cap stocks, Barron's focused on companies with market capitalizations of at least $25 billion.

When the dust settled after all the number-crunching, Barron’s offered these six stocks:

1. Coca-Cola (KO)
2. Sysco (SYY)
3. Raytheon Technologies (RTX)
4. Emerson Electric (EMR)
5. Aflac (AFL)
6. Caterpillar (CAT).

If you decide to dig up stock performance on each one, you may be surprised to see that none of these stocks has done very well this year.

"Caterpillar, which makes trucks, farm machinery and other equipment, is the best performer in this group year to date, down about 8%, dividends included. The laggard of the group is Sysco. The food distributor’s stock is off close to 40%, no doubt reflecting the pandemic’s economic grip," Barron's said.

"All six of these companies have continued to pay their dividends during the pandemic, evidence of their durable businesses," Barron's said, noting that their yields can offer some consolation for the disappointing stock returns.

To be sure, companies still paying out a hefty seemingly are becoming a vanishing breed.

And that may help prevent the S&P 500's ascent to a record, Bloomberg recently warned.

Firms in the index cut have dividends by the most since 2009 this year, and if the cash preservation trend remains intact, the benchmark will likely keep trading below its February peak, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Industries from banks to airlines to entertainment companies have cut or suspended payouts in a push to contain the fallout from the coronavirus.

Even though the pace of cuts has slowed since earlier this year, the trend is still going in the wrong direction. Some 42 companies have suspended dividends this year, data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices show, the most since at least 2004.

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