Headquartered in Clichy, France, L'Oreal manufactures and markets cosmetics and other personal care products. The company has four divisions: Consumer Products, L'Oreal Luxe, Professional Products, and Active Cosmetics. The company was founded in 1909. It owns a more than 9% stake in French drug company Sanofi SA (SNY: BUY). L'Oreal has a market cap of more than $197 billion.

The stock market is playing 'follow the leaders' at midday, with each of the Mag 7 stocks down 2%-5%. The move lower in stock prices is broad, as investors continue to voice their displeasure with tariff uncertainty and now worry about the possibility that Fed Chairman Powell will be targeted for removal by the Trump administration, thus creating further economic uncertainty. On the 'fear' front, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 14% as of midday, at about 34.

With the current stock turmoil, global stocks, and especially stocks that pay dividends, are a potential option for investors. While the S&P 500 has fallen 12% year to date, the EAFE Index of large- and mid-cap stocks based in countries other than the U.S. and Canada has gained 1%. That's quite a change from the recent record. Over the past five years, the S&P 500 has advanced 109% compared to a 50% gain in EAFE. But the underperformance has given global stocks a valuation advantage, particularly in the area of dividends. Consider that the EAFE dividend yield of 3.0% is roughly 175 basis points higher than the comparable S&P 500 dividend yield. We think global dividend stocks continue to offer opportunity, particularly given the endless speculation over the direction of interest rates in the U.S., which has created market-timing headaches for equity income investors. These investors have endured recent wide swings in prices for rate-sensitive equity groups such as utilities, REITs and MLPs. In our view, investing in international income stocks is one way to increase portfolio diversification while reducing sensitivity to volatile U.S interest rates. Investing in overseas stocks carries its own set of risks, including the impact of currency exchange and geopolitical turmoil. But there are also a number of positives in this asset class for U.S. investors, including a wide selection of companies that pay dividends, robust industry diversification, and, as we have mentioned, higher yields and lower valuations. Argus has recently boosted its global coverage, and recommends the following international dividend stocks, each of which has at least a long-term BUY rating from an Argus analyst. This list of approximately 25-30 companies offers exposure to eight of the 11 major industrial sectors, and includes companies from 10 countries.

Headquartered in Clichy, France, L'Oreal manufactures and markets cosmetics and other personal care products. The company has four divisions: Consumer Products, L'Oreal Luxe, Professional Products, and Active Cosmetics. The company was founded in 1909. It owns a more than 9% stake in French drug company Sanofi SA (SNY: BUY). L'Oreal has a market cap of $193 billion.