3 Dividend Stocks That Recently Hit 52-Week Lows to Buy in July

When a company is doing well, investors often think the good times will never end and push the stock to shocking highs. When a company is facing difficult times, Wall Street often acts as if the business will never recover, harshly punishing the stock. If you have a value bias and a long time horizon, you can use Wall Street's negativity to your advantage. And the 52-week low list is a great place to start looking for investment ideas.

You have to be careful when examining stocks newly hitting 52-week lows. Buying willy nilly will likely be a mistake. Instead, focus on companies with strong histories of rewarding investors. Dividends can help you do that. Which is why you may want to look at McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Clorox (NYSE: CLX), and General Mills (NYSE: GIS) as July gets underway. Here's a look at each one.

Image source: Getty Images.

McDonald's is on the cusp of being a Dividend King

In late 2025, McDonald's announced it had increased its dividend. It was increase number 49, putting the company one year away from becoming a Dividend King. You can't create a record like that by accident. And, still, McDonald's stock is trading near its 52-week lows. The company is one of the world's largest fast-food chains, operating at a scale hard to comprehend, with over 45,000 locations across more than 100 countries.

The key to the story, however, is that 95% of McDonald's locations are franchises. It basically collects recurring fees from its franchisees, making it a fairly stable business. Restaurant concepts go in and out of favor over time, but McDonald's has been a long-term survivor. And despite the current pullback, the business is performing reasonably well, with first-quarter 2026 same-store sales up 3.6%. That's impressive for such a large business. Adjusted earnings rose 6%, year over year.

McDonald's price-to-earnings ratio of 22x is below its five-year average of 26x. And its 2.7% yield is well above the roughly 1% you'd get from the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC). For conservative income investors, this fast-food stock could be a foundational investment.

Clorox is nearing the King's list, too

Clorox has increased its dividend annually for 48 consecutive years. It is on track to be crowned a Dividend King in 2027. The company operates in the consumer staples sector, with a fairly odd portfolio mix. Some examples of the product segments it serves include kitty litter, salad dressing, plastic bags, water filters, and, of course, cleaning products. What holds all of the company's brands together is that they are segment leaders. The best way to view Clorox is as a brand manager that focuses on innovation and growth.

The company doesn't get everything right all of the time. It recent sold a vitamin business that wasn't working well. That said, it also just completed the acquisition of Gojo, which owns the Purell brand of hand sanitizers. Purell fits well with the company's cleaning business and will allow Clorox to expand its reach in the business-to-business space. That said, the deal will increase leverage temporarily and comes after a particularly difficult period for the company. Indeed, the stock is actually near 5-year lows right now. So investors remain downbeat, even though the Gojo deal could help reignite the company's growth.

Collecting Clorox's historically high 5% dividend yield will make it easier to stick around while you wait for this iconic consumer staples business to get back on track. Note that the P/E is 15x, which is well below the 37x five-year average, so value investors should be paying close attention.

General Mills just proved it can survive

General Mills is also a consumer staples maker, but it is squarely focused on packaged food products. The stock actually bounced higher after reporting fiscal 2026 earnings and offering up a solid outlook for fiscal 2027. The company had openly stated that 2026 would be a bad year, and it was. But after adjusting its pricing structure, the company is ready to refocus on innovation and growth again.

Like Clorox, General Mills' stock has been in a long downtrend. It bounced off its 52-week low after earnings, but it is still trading near 5-year lows. The P/E ratio of 8.5x is well below its 15x five-year average. The dividend yield is historically high at 7%. That said, General Mills isn't looking to be a Dividend King. While the dividend has generally trended higher for decades, it can go through periods when it remains the same. It looks like the stock is in just such a period today.

However, it has paid dividends for 127 consecutive years, proving the food maker knows how to survive. And the company's fiscal 2027 earnings guidance is for adjusted earnings per share to range from $3.00 to $3.20. The current annual dividend of $2.44 per share, while unlikely to increase in the near term, appears safe.

Take advantage of negativity, but go in with your eyes wide open

McDonald's, Clorox, and General Mills are all in the Wall Street dog house right now. And, at the same time, they are all well-run companies with very long histories of success. Two are on the verge of becoming Dividend Kings, and all three have attractive yields. But it can take a long time for a company to get out of the dog house. Luckily, these reliable dividend stocks, trading near their lows, are paying you very well to wait.

Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Clorox and General Mills. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $320 calls on McDonald's and short January 2028 $340 calls on McDonald's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.