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 Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF ) . The taste and scent creator is also enhancing the senses with a more substantial dividend. Its new quarterly rate of $0.31 a share is a 15% improvement. International Flavors & Fragrances has now come through with six hikes over the past seven years.
Rayonier (NYSE: RYN ) will be paying $0.40 a share for its next quarterly payout. It was previously paying $0.54 a share, so how is this a hike for the forest products company? Well, it's a trick question. Rayonier also declared a 3-for-2 stock split, so that old $0.54-a-share distribution is more like $0.36 on a post-split basis.
Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL ) is also energizing its disbursements. Shareholders will now be receiving $0.22 a share every three months from the Houston-based oil and gas producer, a decent upgrade from the $0.18 a share dividend it was previously generating.
Finally, we have Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC ) making tracks. Shares of the railroad operator hit a new all-time high this week after posting better-than-expected results and boosting its payout. The quarterly beat was naturally a bigger factor in moving the stock than the new quarterly rate of $0.43 a share, but Norfolk Southern investors obviously aren't complaining about the 8% increase in pocket change.
These stocks join industrial products maker Crane (NYSE: CR ) and natural gas limited partnership Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ ) in recently moving 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 we're recommending these days? 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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