Dividend checks continue to beef up in Corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates.

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

Let's start with Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM). The tobacco giant is jacking up its quarterly distributions by 10% to $0.64 a share. The entire sector's been sending out chunkier dividends these days, with Lorillard (NYSE: LO) and stateside sibling Altria (NYSE: MO) pumping up their yields over the past couple of weeks.

Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY) may have received a buyout bid from convenience store leader 7-Eleven last week, but shareholders are the ones getting in on the Big Gulp of payouts. The new quarterly rate at Casey's is 35% higher at $0.135 a share. It's better to have a Slurpee brain freeze than a usurping yield freeze.

Safety specialist Brady (NYSE: BRC) is also looking out for its investors, giving its dividend a 3% boost to $0.18 a share. It may not be much of a move, but Brady has now increased its distributions for 25 years in a row.

Finally we have Frisch's Restaurants (AMEX: FRS) bringing meatier yields to the table. The company behind the Frisch's Big Boy chain -- and operator of several regional Golden Corral buffet restaurants -- is cranking up its quarterly payouts by 15% to $0.15 a share.

Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter can appreciate the 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 is 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 that will get hiked will be your interest.

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