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 these past few days.
We can start with B&G Foods (BGS -0.18%). The company's name may not sound familiar, but stroll through the supermarket and you'll come across many of its products. We're talking about Ortega taco shells, Accent seasoning, and Cream of Wheat hot cereal.
B&G Foods is increasing its quarterly dividend 7% to $0.29 a share. It may not seem like much, but the move pushes the stock's yield over 4%.
Kinder Morgan (KMI 0.27%) is also gushing. The pipeline operator declared a new quarterly rate of $0.36 a share. This is a small improvement from the $0.35 a share it was shelling out three months ago, but it's a 20% pop over the past year. There's clearly a lot of money to be made in transporting natural gas, and the company also jacked up the yield of its limited partnership subsidiary, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), though those distributions have only risen 9% since last year.
Goldman Sachs (GS -0.23%) is also making sure that the investment banker is a better investment itself for income chasers. The company is boosting its quarterly payout 9% to $0.50 a share.
Finally we have Cintas (CTAS -0.33%) dressing up its disbursements. The leading provider of leased uniforms and other workplace staples is improving its annual rate by 19% to $0.64 a share. Investors should be used to this by now: Cintas has come through with 30 consecutive years of increases.
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. A 30-day trial subscription will let you see if it's right for you.
