Dividends may not seem like much -- until you find yourself buying into a company with a knack for hiking its payouts. Over time, those quarterly disbursements may grow to far more than your initial outlay. Of course, it's not all about the near-term greenery. Companies that hike their dividends are also likely to boast improving fundamentals, too. That's a good thing, even if you're not an income investor.
Lets take a closer look at four companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.
We'll start with Hasbro
Hasbro has served Motley Fool Stock Advisor readers well, rising by 39% since its selection by David Gardner nearly three years ago.
FPL Group
Then again, FPL went on to be justifiably blasted by Florida politicos, so it should be more responsive during what it is likely to be another active storm season in 2006. FPL also helped offset that emphasis in December, when it announced plans to merge with Constellation Energy
3M
Then we have Coca-Cola
Subscribers to our Motley Fool Income Investor newsletter can appreciate companies that send more and more money to their investors. Analyst Mathew Emmert has often singled out market-thumping companies committed to growing their distributions.
Want to see what Mathew's liking these days? 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. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.