Dividend checks continue to get fatter 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 International Paper (NYSE: IP ) . The paper and packaging giant is boosting its quarterly dividend by 50% to $0.1875 a share. International Paper also jacked up its rate last April.
CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS ) is also prescribing chunkier distributions. The prescription filler and drugstore chain is now sending $0.125 a share to its shareholders every three months.
The 43% boost is welcome but not unexpected. Back in October, CVS Caremark revealed that it was hoping to return 25% to 30% of its earnings to investors through dividends, implying a compounded dividend growth rate of nearly 25% per year. Well, 43% is a lot more than 25%, so either earnings are getting stronger than expected or CVS Caremark just wants to make early inroads toward its 2015 goal.
Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA ) is also flowing along nicely. The oil transporter's quarterly disbursements are climbing 1% to $0.9575 a share. It may not seem like much, but the limited partnership has been able to declare fatter payouts in 25 of the past 27 quarters.
Finally, we have Maximus (NYSE: MMS ) on the move. The health and human services specialist is improving its yield by 25% 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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