BusinessWeek has a S&P stock screen of international stocks that is a great place to start your research. Dividends: A World of Smart Yield Plays

As U.S. investors increasingly look overseas, S&P's latest screen finds 20 attractive foreign companies with market-beating yields

In the ongoing search for income investments, many U.S. investors are seeking yield instruments overseas. That's because foreign companies are increasingly initiating or boosting dividend payments.

As of Feb. 13, the dividend yield on the S&P Euro 350 index was 3.2%, vs. a 2.1% yield for the S&P 500. And it's not just Europe. Stocks in Asia and emerging markets are also increasingly paying dividends.

What are some attractive U.S. names investors should know about? S&P Equity Research screened for foreign companies within S&P Equity Research's coverage universe that trade as American Depositary Receipts or American Depositary Shares on a U.S. exchange. The shares had to have a dividend yield higher than that of the S&P 500-stock index.

To ensure their appeal, we made them pass though one final filter. The shares had to carry an S&P investment rank of 4 STARS (buy) or 5 STARS (strong buy), meaning S&P analysts expect them to outperform the S&P 500 on a total return basis over the coming 12 months, with the shares rising in price on an absolute basis.

Twenty names made the cut. Please see the associated slide show for more details on the companies on the list.

Company Ticker
Allied Irish Banks AIB
AstraZeneca AZN
AXA AXA
Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria BBV
Banco Santander STD
Barclays BCS
Chunghwa Telecom CHT
Diageo DEO
Enel ENSTY
France Telecom FTE
Genesis Lease GLS
ING Groep ING
Lloyds LYG
Nissan Motor NSANY
Royal Dutch Shell RDSA
Sanofi-Aventis SNY
Taiwan Semiconductor TSM
Telecom Italia TI
Telefonica TEF
Total TOT

The Div Guy owns shares of STD and BCS at the time of this post.