Dividend checks continue to get fatter in Corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates.
Readers of the Income Investor newsletter certainly can 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 Walgreen (NYSE: WAG ) coming through with the largest increase in its 110-year history. The drugstore chain is prescribing a quarterly dividend increase of 29% to $0.225 a share. Walgreen has now come through with 36 consecutive years of jacking up its yield.
It's not the only way that Walgreen is returning money to its stakeholders. Walgreen has repurchased $3 billion worth of stock over the past two years, and last week committed to buying back another $2 billion.
Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF ) is doubling its quarterly rate to $0.28 a share. This may only translate into a new yield of 1.1%, given the miner's chunky share price, but twice as much pocket change ultimately will go back to its investors.
PACCAR (Nasdaq: PCAR ) is also shifting into a higher gear. The truck maker's new quarterly disbursements of $0.18 a share represent a 50% increase. Cranking out Peterbilt, DAF, and Kenworth trucks may seem like a cyclical business, but PACCAR has managed to be profitable in each of the past 72 years.
Finally, we have Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA ) flowing nicely. The oil and gas transporter's new quarterly rate of $0.9825 may seem to be little more than splitting pennies. The new payout is just 1% ahead of what it was paying out three months ago and 4% ahead of where it was last year. However, Plains All American has managed to juice up its distributions in 27 of the past 29 quarters. Yes, quarters.
These stocks join engine maker Cummins (NYSE: CMI ) , diversified midstream energy master limited partnership Genesis Energy (NYSE: GEL ) , and long-term-care facility investor Omega Healthcare (NYSE: OHI ) 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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