I love to kick off the new trading week by taking a quick peek at companies that have just hiked their dividends. It's not just about the money. A company that's loosening its purse strings probably has improving fundamentals to back up that generosity.

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 over the past week.

Let's start with Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW). The suit seller gave its quarterly dividend rate a welcome alteration, taking the sleeves out by another 17% to $0.07 a share.

It may not seem like much, but rival Jos. A Bank (Nasdaq: JOSB) doesn't even pay a dividend. The hike at Men's Wearhouse comes even after the apparel retailer dramatically shaved its holiday-quarter profit outlook last month.

Elsewhere, UPS (NYSE: UPS) is delivering a fatter yield. The world leader in package delivery is boosting its quarterly distributions by 7% to $0.45 a share. This Income Investor newsletter recommendation has doubled its dividend over the past five years.

What's in your wallet? A lot more than you think, if you're a Capital One (NYSE: COF) shareholder. The credit card issuer is coming through with a huge uptick in its payout rate. Investors who were getting just $0.027 a share will now enjoy $0.375 a share.

With its new yield of 2.7%, Capital One is still a dwarf among the financial heavies. Companies like Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) have substantially higher yields. However, it's comforting to see Capital One -- a company that would seem to have plenty to risk, if borrowers continue to default on their short-term debt -- feel upbeat enough about its future to pull off this aggressive update.

Finally, McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) is turning the page. The book and financial-analysis publisher is hiking its quarterly disbursements by 7% to $0.22 a share. McGraw-Hill has now raised its dividend in each of the past 35 years.

Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter can appreciate companies sending more and more money to their investors. The newsletter singles out companies that are committed to growing their distributions, with market-thumping results.

Want to see what we're recommending these days? Give the newsletter service a shot with a 30-day trial subscription. Who knows? Maybe the next thing to get hiked will be your interest.