Dividend checks continue to get fatter in corporate America, as more companies jack up their distribution rates. Let's take a closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher this past week.

Let's start with ITC Holdings (NYSE: ITC). The country's largest independent electricity transmission company is juicing up its quarterly dividend by 5%, to $0.3525 a share. It may not seem like much of a move, but this is the sixth year in a row that ITC has sweetened its yield.

If you want to make ITC look like a slacker, pit it against Cincinnati Financial (Nasdaq: CINF). The insurance giant's move to boost its payout last week -- shaving pennies to go from $0.40 a share every three months to $0.4025 -- raises its streak of annual increases to a whopping 50 years.

MGE Energy (Nasdaq: MGEE) is another dividend aristocrat, coming through with 36 years of meatier disbursements with last week's move. The Madison Gas and Electric parent's new quarterly rate is $0.3826 a share, a modest 2% improvement.

Finally we have Nordson (Nasdaq: NDSN) on the move. The marker of "precision dispensing" equipment may have disappointed the market with lower-than-expected quarterly results, but at least it's returning more money to shareowners. Nordson's quarterly distributions are climbing 19%, to $0.125 a share.

These stocks join professional services provider Towers Watson (NYSE: TW) and auto insurance software specialist Solera (NYSE: SLH) in recently moving their rates higher.

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