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 General Mills (NYSE: GIS). The cereal giant fortified its yield by bumping its quarterly distributions 9% higher to $0.305 a share. Dividends are "Lucky Charms" for General Mills' shareholders, since the company and its predecessors have been paying them for 112 years.

Aircastle's (NYSE: AYR) rate is also taking off. Investors will now be receiving $0.125 a share every three months, a 25% improvement over its previous payout. Aircastle acquires commercial jet aircraft that it leases out to carriers.

Worthington Industries (NYSE: WOR) proved its worth by jacking its quarterly rate up by 20% to $0.12 a share. The diversified metals manufacturer will also be returning money to its shareholders through a new 10-million-share buyback initiative.

Finally, we have Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) dishing out meatier portions. The parent company of the Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Longhorn Steakhouse chains is beefing up its quarterly disbursements 34% to $0.43 a share.

These stocks join Kayne Anderson Energy Development (NYSE: KED), kitty litter maker Oil-Dri, and REIT MFA Financial (NYSE: MFA) in recently bumping their rates higher.

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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