Growing concerns about an economic slowdown have investors scrambling to find ways to protect their portfolios. In the first quarter, US GDP fell more than 1% as the country dealt with the spread of the Covid-19 omicron variant. The economy is also seen as struggling for the second quarter, with the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow model showing an increase of just 0.9%. The new estimate is down from an estimated increase of 1.3% about a week ago. This sluggish economic performance comes as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to combat inflationary pressures not seen in decades. That said, there are some stocks that can deliver solid returns in this type of environment, history shows. To find them, CNBC Pro sifted through the S&P 500 stocks that had total positive returns (price appreciation plus dividends) over the past five periods of sluggish economic growth. We then rank each stock based on their average returns over those timeframes. The monitor used FactSet data. We define sluggish growth as GDP below 2%, but negative more than 2% in the most recent quarters. We examined the following periods: Q3-Q4 2018; Q4 2016-Q1 2017; Q3-Q4 of 2015; Q2-Q3 2012 and Q2-Q3 2009. Here are the stocks with the best returns in those timeframes. The search has yielded a wide range of utility and consumer essentials names such as Kimberly-Clark, Hershey, Clorox and Atmos Energy. On an average basis, Kimberly-Clark returned 17% in the last five economic slowdowns, while Hershey Atmos returned 15.8% each. Clorox’s average return over these timeframes is 15.2%. Shares of Hershey and Atmos have outperformed this year, 9.5% and 11.8%, respectively. Kimberly-Clark is down 8% during that time, but that’s still better than the S&P 500’s more than 12% drop. To date, Clorox’s stock is down 22.6%. Web domain registrar VeriSign tops the list, with an average return of 24.4%, while cosmetics company Ulta Beauty comes in second, with an average return of 19%. VeriSign’s stock is down more than 29% in 2022 as investors shun tech stocks amid a rally, but Ulta’s stock is still up, up 2.7% during that time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average component Coca-Cola also made the list, with an average return of 10% over the past five economic slowdowns. The company’s stock is doing well this year, up 6.6%. At the end of April, Coca-Cola reported a 16% year-over-year jump in revenue and maintained its outlook even as inflation soars. Other stocks that made the list are: McCormick, Pinnacle West Capital, Ameren, Chubb, DTE Energy, American Tower Corp., American Electric Power and Eversource Energy. The bottom line: The economy may be slowing down, but these stocks can provide high returns and strengthen your portfolio, if history shows any indication.