8 High-Quality, Dividend-Paying European Stocks Trading Cheaply

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- It's not too early for investors to start putting money in European stocks as the values of some of the continent's biggest high-quality companies are trading at valuations much cheaper than those of their U.S. peers.

The interminable sovereign debt crisis is dragging on and has weighed on the MSCI Europe Index, which tracks large-cap stocks. It's down 8.5% this year and 27% over the past 12 months.

And that has hurt share prices across the board. But the prospects for some European-based companies are strong as they continue to make money and are sure to survive a reshuffle of the euro.

What's more, some of them are paying hefty dividends and their revenue base includes such a large component of international sales that the playing field is leveled with their U.S.-based peers.