4 Stocks That Took a Hike

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I love to kick off the new trading week by taking a quick peek at companies that have just increased their dividends. After all, a company that's easing up on its pocketbook probably has improving fundamentals to back up that generosity.

Readers of the Income Investor newsletter service can appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a closer look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher over the past week.

We'll start with banking at Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). The pop star made its quarterly distributions a little more bubbly, with a 12% dividend boost to $0.38 a share. Coke investors should be used to this by now, since the company's raised its payout in each of the past 46 years.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) also pummeled its old disbursement rate, yet the move has a storyline almost as entertaining as some of its grapplers' backstories. WWE is committing to a 50% dividend increase on its common shares -- to $0.36 a share -- if it receives a favorable tax ruling next month.

What does a tax ruling have to do with a shareholder check? Well, the company wants to issue the increase only to its common shareholders. The Class B shares, which Vince McMahon's family owns, would stick to the old $0.24-per-share quarterly rate. Gee, a company that wants to give more to its investors than it does to itself? What must those McMahons be up to? It sounds like another great pay-per-view plot twist.

Nucor (NYSE: NUE) is another dividend booster. The steel-products maker is giving its quarterly payouts a 7% push to $0.32 a share. That increase may not seem like much, but Nucor has come through with annual dividend increases since it started paying them out 35 years ago.

Finally, we have Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) ringing up a chunkier check. The company's move to raise its quarterly distributions by 19% to $0.16 a share is gutsy, since a lot of retailers are nervous about the iffy economic climate. Some rivals, such as Saks (NYSE: SKS), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), and Sears Holdings  (Nasdaq: SHLD), don't even pay a consistent dividend.

Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter service can appreciate the companies sending more and more money to their investors. Income Investor singles out companies that are committed to growing their distributions with market-thumping results.

Want to see what we're recommending 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.