UBS combined AI and analyst smarts to pick the 7 best dividend stocks

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Stock pickers are constantly trying to get an edge on their competition. For analysts at UBS, that means using a machine learning algorithm to help with the hard work of evaluating companies.

To create their "High-Quality Dividend Stock List," analysts at UBS used a machine learning algorithm to sort through all the dividend-paying stocks out there and come up with the best ones.

The machine learning algorithm looked at a company's ability to outperform its sector, quality of its balance sheet and strength of its earnings, as well as, of course, its dividend history. The algorithm returned a short list of stocks that UBS analysts then combed through by hand, ordering them by squishier things like investor sentiment and management quality.

The result of all this number crunching is 7 stocks that UBS analysts think will outperform their competition, and pay back dividends worthy of your time. Read on to find out which stocks made the list, along with the dividend ratio - or the yearly dividend payout divided by the stock price - of the stock.