Even if you're not investing for the sake of dividends, it's hard to deny the refreshing sound of pocket change. Raising dividends is often a company's signal that it's enjoying good times -- and is willing to share a bit more of the wealth with you. By pursuing companies that are ratcheting up their yields, income investors can have their cake and eat it, too.

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

Talx (NASDAQ:TALX) is giving its quarterly dividend a 25% boost, even if it means simply going from $0.04 per share every three months to a whole nickel. The income and employment verifier should have no problem covering the tab, since it also reiterated its expectations for $1.15 to $1.20 per share in profits from continuing operations. Earlier this summer, Chuck Saletta singled out Talx as one of the few companies where free cash flow was clocking in higher than actual reported earnings.

Another hiker was Blyth (NYSE:BTH). Shareholders will be receiving $0.23 a share, up from $0.21, come November. That will be the second time this year that the home decor and fragrances specialist has raised its dividend. That's remarkable because we're talking about a company that pays its dividends in semiannual installments. In other words, the company is raising its payout every time the collection tray comes around. The country's leading candlemaker, Blyth yields more than rival Yankee Candle (NYSE:YCC) but not quite as much as fellow wicksmith Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC).

Cascade (NYSE:CAE) will also be sending out fatter dividend checks. The maker of handling attachments for forklifts saw its second-quarter profits soar by 65% last week on a 25% uptick in sales. That gave it the flexibility to raise its quarterly dividend from $0.12 a share to $0.15 a share. It's the third time that the company has grown its quarterly payouts over the past two years.

Trinity Industries (NYSE:TRN) is growing its quarterly dividend by a penny to $0.07 a share, despite the cyclical challenges in its transportation empire. The company did suffer limited damages after Hurricane Katrina roughed up some of its barges in Louisiana, but Trinity claims that it's still on track to earn at least $1.20 per share this year. With those numbers, covering the meatier payout will clearly not be a problem.

Subscribers to our Motley FoolIncome Investor newsletter can appreciate companies sending more and more money to their investors. Analyst Mathew Emmert has often singled out companies that are committed to growing their distributions with market-thumping results.

Want to see what Mathew's liking these days? Go ahead and give his newsletter service a shot with a 30-day trial subscription. Who knows? Maybe the next thing to get hiked will be your interest.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz pays attention to yield signs. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.