4 Stocks That Took a Hike

I love to kick off the new trading week by taking a quick peek at companies that have just increased their dividends. A company that's easing up on its pocketbook probably has improving fundamentals to back up that generosity. Readers of Motley Fool Income Investor can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking. 

Let's look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher over the past week, starting with with Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV). 

The mutual fund giant boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.155 a share. That's only half a penny more, on a per-share basis, but the move comes during a week in which mutual fund bellwethers such as Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), and T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW) posted lower quarterly results. Eaton Vance has now increased its yield in 28 consecutive years.

Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) is also willing to chip in a little more for income chasers. The semiconductor company is increasing its quarterly distributions to $0.339 a share, 9% more than it was paying out a year ago. The bump of just $0.001 since last quarter may not seem like a lot, but Microchip is an aggressive climber. The company has been increasing its yield every quarter for the past five years.

Stepan (NYSE: SCL) is another booster. The chemicals producer's payout rate is inching 5% higher. Shareholders will now receive $0.22 a share every three months. The increase follows record quarterly results at the company.

Finally, Goodrich (NYSE: GR) is flying higher. The aerospace titan jacked up its quarterly dividend by 11%, to $0.25 a share.

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

Want to see what's being recommended these days? Give the service a shot with a 30-day trial subscription. Who knows? Maybe the next thing to get an increase will be your interest.