A company that announces record revenues for a particular period usually deserves only muted applause. After all, if companies grew at a constant pace rather than with occasional spurts and dips, they d break revenue records each quarter.

However, now things look different. Revenues for the large American companies that make up the S&P 500 index are growing slowly after a sharp contraction, and are still about 18% below their peak reached in the second quarter of 2008. Companies that report record revenues today show that they ve prospered through the recent recession. Provided their valuations are still reasonable, such companies deserve attention from investors who fear another tumble in the stock market or slowdown in the economy.

Below are three recent revenue record-breakers. Unlike Apple, Amazon and other top performers whose share prices have soared lately, these companies pay dividends and trade at a discount to the broad stock market.

Baxter International

Dividend yield: 2.2%
Sales growth last quarter: 11%

Baxter International consists of three businesses. One division makes treatments for immune disorders and blood-related diseases, as well as vaccines and wound-care products. A second division makes intravenous systems and pre-mixed drugs. A third sells products to treat irreversible kidney disease, both at home and in hospitals. Nearly two-thirds of company sales come from overseas. Recent efficiency efforts have increased profit margins and cash flow, resulting in shrinking net debt and generous spending on share repurchases. Management says profits should grow by a double-digit percentage this year.

Hasbro

Dividend yield: 2.6%
Sales growth last quarter: 12%

Children haven t completely abandoned toys for lazier pursuits, like video games, television and movies. They still want action figures based on their favorite movie franchises (Spider-man), dolls based on television shows (My Little Pony) and, well, video games that are at least based on familiar toys (Nerf N-Strike). That helps explain why toymaker Hasbro has reported five straight years of sales gains. The coming quarter includes difficult comparisons, with tie-ins from the upcoming movie, Iron Man 2 going up against a sales burst from Transformers and G.I. Joe products a year ago. For the full year, though, Wall Street estimates that Hasbro will squeak out another sales increase.

Raytheon

Dividend yield: 2.6%
Sales growth last quarter: 10%

Raytheon makes missiles, radar equipment, spy systems and more and collects about 80% of its sales from the Department of Defense. In February, President Obama submitted a defense budget that calls for a 2.3% increase in baseline spending next year (versus about 4% a year under his predecessor). Meanwhile, early projections have Raytheon increasing its sales faster than those budget increases by 3.3% next year after a 5.6% improvement this year. That may be because upgrades to the company s Patriot missile system are expected to sell well to foreign clients, and because the President s support of missile defense programs bodes well for Raytheon s offerings in the category. A broad rise in the U.S. stock market has also helped improve the standing of the company s pension fund, and spare cash seems plentiful at the moment. Last week, Raytheon announced a sizeable dividend increase (its sixth in as many years) and announced that its board authorized $2 billion in share repurchases, following $1.2 billion spent on repurchases last year.