While the inflation rate has begun to cool slightly, it could still prove to be stickier than expected. The U.S. consumer price index, which measures changes in a multitude of goods and services, increased just 0.1% for the month, bringing the annual level down to 4% from 4.9% in April. So-called core inflation rose 0.4% on the month and was still up 5.3% from a year ago, indicating that while price pressures have eased somewhat, consumers are still under fire. Elsewhere, the U.K. is predicted to have the highest inflation out of all advanced economies this year. The country reported consumer prices that rose by an annual 8.7% in May – hotter than expected. Want to beat those sticky consumer prices? CNBC Pro screened for stocks, using FactSet, with these criteria: Increased their dividends for the past five years. At least a 5% dividend yield. Average price target upside of more than 20%. At least a 40% buy rating from analysts. These five stocks showed up. They were mostly energy or financial stocks. U.S. oil and gas companies Pioneer Natural Resources and Devon Energy made the cut. They offer the highest dividend yields on the list, at more than 10%. Devon also received the highest potential price target upside from analysts, at around 33%. EOG Resources got the buy rating from analysts, at more than 70%. Analysts have been bullish on oil prices lately , saying that inflation is set to remain a problem. OPEC also painted a picture of strong demand well into the coming decades. Financial services firm Fifth Third Bancorp and insurance company Fidelity National Financial also made the screen, with dividend yields of around 5%. — CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
