Some investors trade in and out of stocks without paying attention to dividends. Sure, the yields usually aren't much, but if a company is committed to cutting loose some of its greenery every three months, that's a good way of gauging that company's prospects. If a company is raising its dividend rate, it's a good sign the company is confident about growing. Readers of the 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 Value Line
Matthews International
The company has been breathing new life into its quarterly payouts every year since it went public in 1994. A dozen hikes later, the latest spike has the company inching 10% higher to $0.055 a share.
Then we have Charles Schwab
Finally, we have Stepan
Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter service can appreciate the companies that send more and more money to their investors. The service singles out companies that are committed to growing their distributions with market-thumping results.
Want to see what's being recommended these days? Go ahead and give the 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 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.