Dividends may be boring, but companies that announce increases in their distributions can be pretty exciting to watch. If an income-producing entity feels good enough about its future to part with a little more of its money, it's usually a sign that something good is taking place. Readers of our Motley Fool Income Investor newsletter can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a closer look at four of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.

We can start with McDonald's (NYSE:MCD). The world's largest fast-food chain stacked its annual dividend 50% higher, to a meaty $1 a share. Props go out to my fellow Fool Alyce Lomax for pointing out how the new rate will help feed you off the dollar menu.

The company has always been a well-oiled machine when it comes to generating greenbacks. Now that it's making a little more in a one-time event, by cashing out of Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), it will be aggressively buying back shares. In that light, raising the dividend was the right thing to do.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) was a defense contractor on the offensive when it, too, pumped up its payout. Hot off its win of a $1.4 billion military contract, the company raised its quarterly dividend by a nickel, to $0.35 a share.

CLARCOR (NYSE:CLC) was another hiker. The maker of filtration and industrial packaging equipment stretched its quarterly dividend from $0.0675 to $0.0725 a share. It may not seem like much of a boost, but the company has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years now.

Finally, Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) will be serving its shareholders "M'm, M'm, More" after heating up an 11% hike to its quarterly distribution. Investors will now be getting $0.20 a share. It's the third year of dividend hikes in a row for the company behind Pepperidge Farm cookies, Pace picante sauces, and gallons of soups.

Subscribers to the 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'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 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.