Dividend checks continue to get fatter in 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 Coach (NYSE: COH). The maker of designer handbags and other stylish accessories wants to put a little more pocket change into those purses. Coach is boosting its dividend by 50% to an annual rate of $0.90 a share.

Big Blue is also opting for bigger distributions. IBM's (NYSE: IBM) new quarterly rate of $0.75 a share represents a 15% improvement. Despite tech's cyclical ways IBM has now come through with 16 consecutive years of hikes. It's also returning even more money to its shareowners through an $8 billion stock buyback plan.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) is also pumping up its payouts. The country's most valuable company by market cap will be sending its shareowners $0.47 a share every three months, ahead of its previous rate of $0.44 a share. Exxon Mobil has delivered 29 straight years of hikes. It was a good week in this space since Chevron (NYSE: CVX) also pushed through a meatier distribution policy.

Finally, we have Williams (NYSE: WMB) fueling its yield. The integrated natural gas company is bumping its quarterly payouts 60% higher to $0.20 a share. Williams is also publicly targeting a 10% to 15% dividend hike for next year.

These companies join midstream natural gas specialist Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE: APL) and support structures maker Valmont (NYSE: VMI) in propping up their yields.

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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