Dividends are not free money. When a company distributes dividends, that value comes out of the stock price.
There are plenty of opinions, educated or not, on why companies that pay dividends/grow dividends/whatever dividends are better investments than companies that do more stock buybacks (which increase the stock price), acquisitions, or whatever. There is not a consensus.
What is definitely true is that dividends are not as efficient as equity price increases from a taxable standpoint. When you are paid dividends, you pay taxes on those, even if those are used to reinvest. Capital gains don't get taxed until you sell (minus the occasional fund distributing capital gains - but a good index fund rarely does that). Your deferred taxes, in essence, get to keep compounding. If you are in the accumulation phase - not withdrawing - and you are talking about a taxable account, I would recommend not going with high dividend payers.
If it's in a tax-advantaged account (401k, IRA, HSA, etc.), and/or you are withdrawing funds on a regular basis, go nuts with your preference.