Dividend checks continue to get fatter in corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates.

Let's take a closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.

Let's start with PotashCorp (NYSE: POT). The fertilizer giant is making sure that it's providing a bountiful harvest for its shareholders. PotashCorp is doubling its quarterly dividend to $0.14 a share. The news came a day before PotashCorp posted disappointing quarterly results, but it's still making more than enough to cover its fortified distributions.

Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE: APL) is another gusher. The limited partnership active in the gathering and processing segments of the midstream natural gas industry is bumping its quarterly disbursements 2% higher to $0.55 a share. The move finds Atlas Pipeline Partners yielding nearly 5.9%.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) is also working its "I think I can" chugging magic on its disbursements. The railroad operator's new quarterly rate of $0.47 a share is a 9% improvement. Railroads may be a cyclical industry, but Norfolk Southern has come through with 118 consecutive quarterly dividend checks.

Finally we have Eaton (NYSE: ETN) eating up its old distribution rate. The diversified industrial manufacturer's new quarterly payouts are climbing 12% to $0.38 a share. Eaton is upbeat about its near-term outlook, seeing another year of record operating profits on a modest 4% uptick in revenue.

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 My Watchlist.