That extra change in your pocket? It's not just a company raising its dividend. It's a public company expecting improvement. Such payout hikes are probably worth more than their heavier dividend check alone -- they point the way to income-producing investments that can also be growth vehicles.
Let's take a closer look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.
Let's start with CBS (NYSE:CBS). If you were wondering what the company has in mind after selling its amusement parks and mulling over the possibility of unloading its smaller radio stations, check the pockets of its investors for change. The company is raising its quarterly dividend by 13% to $0.18 per share.
The move wasn't a complete surprise. Once Viacom (NYSE:VIA) completed its corporate split, it had indicated that its namesake spinoff would be the faster-growing cable property operator, while CBS would be a slower yet more consistent yield-producer.
Monro Muffler Brake (NASDAQ:MNRO) also hit the accelerator with a 40% spike in its dividend rate. The chain of 700 automotive-repair stores has been a consistent grower, and you didn't need to pop the hood to know that owners would be rewarded. The new quarterly distribution is now $0.07 a share, with the announcement coming shortly after Monro posted its fiscal 2006 results that found revenue and earnings revving 9% and 15% higher, respectively.
Bunge Limited (NYSE:BG) was another hiker. The leading oilseed producer and farmland fertilizer provider will be sowing the seeds of higher dividends by paying its shareowners $0.16 a share every three months starting this summer. That was a penny better than its previous quarterly payout.
The Great White North is also the direction that the yield on Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) is heading. The Canadian financial institution inched its quarterly disbursements 17% higher to $0.62 a share. The news came just before Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) came through with a great earnings report.
Subscribers to our Income Investor newsletter can appreciate the 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 likes 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.
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