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 T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW).

The mutual fund giant has been attracting welcome attention from growth investors for its timely investments in Facebook and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX). It's been snapping up chunks of Facebook, Twitter, and other dot-com darlings for its funds well ahead of their ballyhooed IPOs. The fund family was able to buy $200 million worth of Netflix in a direct offering through the video giant in November. T. Rowe Price acquired 2.86 million shares at $70, well below the price that Netflix is trading at today.

However, T. Rowe Price itself hasn't forgotten about its more conservative income investors. The stock's new quarterly dividend of $0.34 a share is a 10% improvement over its earlier rate. Shareholders should be used to this by now. T. Rowe Price has now declared higher disbursements for 27 years in a row.

Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) also struck it rich with income seekers. Some argue that gold isn't an appealing asset category because it doesn't return money to shareholders, but it's a different story with gold miners. Canadian miner Yamana is making its quarterly payouts more precious, increasing them to $0.055 a share. The move represents a 10% improvement over its most recent rate and an 83% spike from its rate a year earlier.

Gannett (NYSE: GCI) is making its own headlines. The parent company of USA TODAY and several city newspapers is boosting its quarterly distributions by 150% to $0.20 a share. Gannett is introducing some new growth initiatives, so it may as well stop the presses to adjust the amount on its dividend checks.

Finally we have Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX) shifting into a higher gear. The Michigan-based maker of car components is revving up its quarterly payouts 8% higher, to $0.13 a share.

Checks and balances
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.

If you want to track these stocks to see if and when they hike their payouts again, consider adding them to MyWatchlist.