GOLDMAN SACHS: These 15 stocks offer cash returns at more than double the market average - and they're available at a discount

• David Kostin, the chief US equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, says he's brought together a group of S&P 500 stocks that return double the average company in the broader index.
• Kostin adds that the stocks have underperformed the index for the last few years despite their superior returns.
• The performance of those stocks has steadily gotten worse as investors got more optimistic about economic growth.
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It's a rare combination, but Goldman Sachs says you can get better-than-average returns from a few stocks while also buying them at better-than-average prices.

David Kostin, chief US equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, says he's identified a group of stocks that more than double the cash return of the median S&P 500 stock, which is currently 4.4%. Most of them pay hefty dividends, and some augment that by repurchasing large amounts of their stock every year.

And yet Kostin says those stocks have been collectively underperforming the S&P 500, as shown in the chart below. It shows the high-return stocks falling farther and farther behind the benchmark index over the last three years, with a few attempted rallies that didn't last long.

Put simply, these stocks that offer strong cash distributions can be found at a bargain.

And most recently, they've gotten even cheaper relative to the market as investors got more optimistic about the economy and resumed their preference for growth over higher-yielding stocks.

Listed below are Kostin's top 15 stocks. They're ranked from lowest to highest based on their yield, defined as dividend payouts and stock buybacks as a percentage of their market caps over the past 12 months.