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 Ebix (Nasdaq: EBIX). The provider of cloud-based enterprise software solutions for the insurance industry doesn't report earnings until tomorrow, but last week it bumped its quarterly dividend 25% higher to $0.05 a share. It may not seem like much of a distribution, but it does push Ebix's yield above 1%. Can your money market account say that?

Gold Resource (Nasdaq: GORO) is turning precious metal into a steady trickle of liquidity for investors, bumping its monthly -- yes, monthly -- rate 20% higher to $0.06 a share. The gold producer with operations in southern Mexico began returning money to stakeholders since commencing commercial operations two years ago. Realizing that gold investors may fancy metals over cash, Gold Resources offers investors a convenient way to turn their payouts into physical gold or silver.

Heirs of the Pepsi formula inventor may be trying to sue PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), but that's not going to get in the way of the soda-and-salty-snacks giant keeping its streak of dividend hikes alive. PepsiCo's decision to move its quarterly rate 4% higher to $0.5375 a share marks 40 years in a row that the company has jacked up its yield.

NorthStar Realty Finance (NYSE: NRF) is comfortable with chunkier disbursements, even after completing a secondary stock offering last week. The REIT specializing in commercial real estate investments is increasing its quarterly dividend 11% to $0.15 a share. NorthStar's rate has moved an impressive 50% higher over the past three quarters.

Checks and balances
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.