Dividend checks continue to get fatter Corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates.

Readers of the Income Investor newsletter can certainly appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.

Let's start with Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY). The Canadian gold producer is giving its quarterly dividend a 50% boost to $0.03 a share. It may not seem like much, but it's three times what Yamana was paying this time last year.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE: PFG) is also enriching its shareholders. The investment, insurance, and banking specialist is cranking out an annual dividend of $0.55 a share next month. It's a 10% improvement over last year's disbursement of $0.50 a share.

Tupperware (NYSE: TUP) is also keeping its payouts fresh, boosting its quarterly rate 20% to $0.30 a share. Tupperware's quarterly rate was stuck at $0.22 a share for years. Things got spiced up last year with the move to $0.25 a share, and now investors are getting a refreshed yield.

Finally, we have Calavo Growers (Nasdaq: CVGW) playing guacamole Whack-a-Mole with its distributions. The avocado growers are harvesting a new annual payout of $0.55 a share, ahead of last year's $0.50 a share scoop.

Calavo's success has resulted in steady hikes. Its annual dividend was a mere $0.20 a share eight years ago.

It's encouraging to see companies improving their yields at a time when fixed-income investments are on the floor. These companies join Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR), Atmos Energy (NYSE: ATO), and power tools specialist Snap-on (NYSE: SNA) in sending more of their money back to their shareowners in recent days.

Subscribers to the Income Investor newsletter can appreciate the 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 is 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.

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