Don't you just love the smell of freshly raised dividends in the morning? That's your reward for being a patient investor. When a company decides to up its payout, it means more than just some extra coins for your pocket. It's a signal that the company feels comfortable enough in its outlook to part with a little more of its greenery. Those are stocks worth investigating a little closer.
So let's take a look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.
McDonald's
Another food-related company that eased up on its purse strings was Darden Restaurants
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin
All four defense contractors have yields of at least 1.3%. With Lockheed's hike, it becomes the top dog in that regard, paying investors 2% of their share price in dividends.
Our last payout booster is Campbell Soup
Subscribers to our Income Investor newsletter can appreciate companies that are giving more and more money back 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 that will 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. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy .