TheStreet.com Ratings: Best Large-Cap Dividend Stocks

In addition, on this equity-income list are two telecommunications companies, AT&T (T Quote) and its acquisition partner Bellsouth Corp. (BLS Quote); two pharmaceutical stocks, AstraZeneca Plc (AZN Quote) and Wyeth (WYE Quote); and two defensive industrials, Waste Management (WM Quote) and Emerson Electric (EMR Quote).

Despite the broad range of companies on the list, it's noteworthy that two sectors are not represented: energy and technology.

Big energy stocks are the cornerstone of many individual long-term portfolios and appear in the portfolios of several top-rated mutual funds. Despite their popularity, however, our growth and income screen did not select leading energy companies like Chevron (CVX Quote) because they lack strong earnings growth or high payouts.

Less surprising is the fact that no technology stocks made this list. Don't expect cash dividends from Oracle(ORCL Quote) or Apple (AAPL Quote), both of which are rated highly by our model, as they both reinvest all earnings back into their business.

So next time someone boasts about a 15.7% 52-week return on the S&P 500 SPY ETF or 17.7% 52-week return on the Dow Jones DIA ETF, tell them about the average 28.2% 52-week return for these 16 top-rated equity income stocks -- the growth and income giants from TheStreet.com Ratings.