I love to kick off the new trading week by taking a quick peek at companies that have just hiked their dividends. It's not just about the money; a company opening its wallet wider probably has improving fundamentals to back up that generosity. Readers of our Income Investor newsletter can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking.
Let's take a closer look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.
Let's start with Kimberly-Clark
We also had defense contractor Northrop Grumman
Sherwin-Williams
Despite lackluster production in the homebuilding and hardware superstore sectors, Sherwin-Williams has been able to grow. Last month, it posted record earnings on a 9% boost in net sales. The company isn't as cyclical as you may think, either; the new payout finds Sherwin-Williams extending a 29-year streak of hikes.
Lastly, we have Genuine Parts
Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter can appreciate companies sending more and more money to their investors. The newsletter singles out companies that are committed to growing their distributions, with market-thumping results.
Want to see what's being recommended these days? Go ahead and give the newsletter service a shot with a 30-day trial subscription. Who knows? Maybe the next thing to get hiked will be your interest.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz pays attention to yield signs. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.