Investors looking for income from their investments generally want that income to be paid regularly throughout the year, observes Beth Piskora, senior content director of S&P The Outlook.

To help investors accomplish this, we’ve grouped these 18 stocks into six groups, according to the dates on which they usually pay quarterly dividends.

By purchasing just six of these issues — one in each time slot — you would receive two dividend checks per month during the course of the year.

We’ve gone one step further, and identified exactly how many shares to purchase in order to receive monthly income of about $100.

Below is each payment group, along with the current yield and the number of shares that need to be  bought in order to generate $100 in monthly income:

EARLY JAN., APRIL, JULY, OCT.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) — yielding 2.7% — 715 shares
Kraft Heinz (KHC) — yielding 2.7% — 85 shares
Nike (NKE) — yielding 1.2% — 310 shares

MID-JAN., APRIL, JULY, OCT.

Cisco (CSCO) — yielding 3.6% — 190 shares
General Electric (GE) — yielding 3.1% — 215 shares
Inter Parfums (IPAR) — yielding 2.0% — 330 shares

EARLY FEB., MAY, AUG., NOV.

AT&T (T) — yielding 4.9% — 105 shares
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) — yielding 2.2% — 130 shares
CVS Health (CVS) — yielding 1.8% — 115 shares

MID-FEB., MAY, AUG., NOV.

A.O. Smith (AOS) — yielding 1.2% — 210 shares
Celanese (CE) — yielding 2.0% — 140 shares
Lazard (LAZ) — yielding 4.4% — 130 shares

EARLY MARCH, JUNE, SEPT., DEC.

Cummins (CMI) — yielding 3.4% — 50 shares
Ford Motor (F) — yielding 4.5% — 330 shares
Micrchip Technology (MCHP) — yielding 2.8% — 140 shares

MID-MARCH, JUNE, SEPT., DEC.

Excelon (EXC) — yielding 3.7% — 155 shares
ITC Holdings (ITC) — yielding 1.7% — 260 shares
Travelers (TRV) — yielding 2.4% — 75 shares

For example, you could buy 715 shares of Huntington Bancshares, 190 shares of Cisco, 105 shares of AT&T, 130 shares of Lazard, 330 shares of Ford, and 155 shares of Exelon.

At recent prices, the six-stock portfolio would cost $30,86  (before brokerage commissions) and provide annual income of about $1,200, for a yield of 3.9%, higher than the recent 2.1% yield on the S&P 500.

In addition, all of the stocks listed above are ranked four- or five-STARS buy and strong buy ratings — for expected above-average price appreciation during the next 12 months.

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By Beth Piskora, Senior Content Director of S&P The Outlook