Excerpt from the article:
"The Federal Reserve often raises interest rates during inflationary times to cool demand, which means that volatile stocks may sharply reverse," says Don Kaufman, co-founder of trading education platform TheoTrade. When screening for volatility, investors should focus on a stock's beta, which measures its sensitivity relative to the benchmark S&P 500. Generally, a beta of less than 1 indicates lower volatility.
"By looking for low-to-moderate-beta dividend stocks, investors can steer clear of companies that may pay higher dividend yields but have excessive volatility and price risk," Kaufman says. A great example here is defensive health care sector stock Johnson & Johnson. This company currently pays a dividend yield of 2.8% while sporting a low beta of 0.5.