Global stocks are gaining, if not at the pace of domestic equities. While the S&P 500 has risen 17% year to date, the EAFA index of large- and mid-cap stocks based in countries other than the U.S. and Canada has gained 9.5%. Over the past five years, the performance gap has been wider, with the S&P 500 advancing 94% compared to a 32% gain in EAFE. But the underperformance has given global stocks a valuation advantage, particularly in the area of dividends. Consider that the EAFE dividend yield of 2.9% is 170 basis points higher than the comparable S&P 500 dividend yield. We think global dividend stocks now offer opportunity, particularly given the endless speculation over the direction of interest rates in the U.S., which has created market-timing headaches for equity income investors, who have endured recent wide swings in prices for rate-sensitive equity in areas such as utilities, REITs and MLPs. In our view, investing in international income stocks is one way to increase portfolio diversification while reducing sensitivity to volatile U.S. interest rates. Investing in overseas stocks carries its own set of risks, including the impact of currency exchange and geopolitical turmoil. But there are also a number of positives in this asset class for U.S. investors, including a wide selection of companies that pay dividends, robust industry diversification, and, as we have mentioned, higher yields and lower valuations. Argus has recently boosted its global coverage, and recommends the following international dividend stocks, each of which has at least a long-term BUY rating from an Argus analyst. Note this list of approximately 25-30 companies offers exposure to eight of the 11 major industrial sectors. The list includes companies from 10 countries.

Headquartered in Clichy, France, L'Oreal manufactures and markets cosmetics and other personal care products. The company has four divisions: Consumer Products, L'Oreal Luxe, Professional Products, and Active Cosmetics. The company was founded in 1909. It owns a more than 9% stake in French drug company Sanofi SA (SNY: BUY). L'Oreal has a market cap of $268 billion.

Stocks are mostly moving up. Movement is modest. Trading is what you'd expect for a mid-August day. Wall Street will perk up at 2pm today when the minutes from the last Fed meeting come out.

Our list this week shines a light on international stocks. We sorted our database for large-cap international stocks valued above $50 billion and with a High or Medium-High Argus rating for Financial Strength. We then sorted further, looking for stocks in the group that are furthest from their 52-week high, suggesting value. Timing matters, of course, and stocks have been on a tear lately. We ran the same list a month ago and note some shifting today. Roche Holding was on our initial list, but we have since downgraded it to a HOLD. Novo Nordisk has had tremendous attention from investors, but was not on our previous list as it was hitting new highs -- and has fallen from those highs in the past few weeks. Here is our current list of Argus large-cap BUY-rated international stocks that seem to offer value.