Investors are rushing to companies promising regular payouts to shareholders, a sign of Wall Street’s hunger for cash in hand as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates and major stock indexes struggle. They are turning to companies such as AT&T Inc. and cigarette-maker Altria Group Inc. as the broader market endures one of its most volatile stretches of the past decade. Worries about…

But this time around, a different dynamic is at play. Interest rates have risen swiftly, not because investors are betting on an economic surge, but because accelerating inflation is forcing the Federal Reserve to act quickly to try to rein in price pressures. Some investors worry the Fed’s interest-rate increases may even tip the economy into…