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 Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX).

The java giant topped off a strong quarterly report by announcing that its quarterly dividend would be climbing 31% to $0.17 a share. There's nothing like the barista baron posting strong store-level sales and a sharp spike in profitability to give it enough breathing room to return more of its beans to shareholders.

Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) investors are also striking it rich. The Toronto-based gold producer with operations throughout Latin America is boosting its rate for the second time over the past 12 months. Yamana's quarterly distributions of $0.05 a share isn't much more than the $0.045 a share disbursements it handed out three months earlier, but it's a healthy 67% advance from last year's yield.

Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) is also electrifying its payouts. The appliance and industrial solutions provider is juicing up its quarterly dividend 16% to $0.40 a share.

James Early singled out Emerson to Income Investor newsletter service subscribers two years ago, after it had jacked up its yield for 53 years in a row. The streak is now up to 55 consecutive years of hikes after last week's move.

Finally we have CEC Enterprises (NYSE: CEC) getting more cheesy. The parent company of sensory-overload-kiddy-nirvana Chuck E. Cheese is giving its distributions a 10% boost to $0.22 a share. CEC is going through with the move despite revenue, comps, and earnings all dipping slightly in its latest quarter.

These companies join regional amusement park operator Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) and vision technology specialist Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX) in recently jacking up their yields.

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.

If you want to track these stocks to see if and when they hike their payouts again, consider adding them to MyWatchlist.