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 Coffee Holding (JVA -5.77%).
The provider of premium branded and private-label coffee is doubling its quarterly dividend to $0.06 a share. Many of the companies that plan on sending investors twice as much money this month are merely shelling out their next two quarterly disbursements at once, but not Coffee Holding. It does remain to be seen if its next quarterly payout will be at $0.03 a share or $0.06 a share, though.
American Tower's (AMT -3.25%) quarterly checks are also getting louder. The company's new quarterly rate of $0.24 a share is a 4% improvement. American Tower owns more than 50,000 communications sites that it then leases out to mobile providers, radio station operators, or any company that needs to broaden its reach through localized broadcast towers.
American Tower was transformed into a REIT this year, passing on the bulk of its earnings and taxable implications through to its investors.
Nucor (NUE -2.34%) is also flexing its muscles. The maker of steel products will now be distributing $0.3675 a share to its stakeholders every three months. It may not seem like a major improvement over its previous $0.365 a share, but it keeps an impressive streak going. Nucor has now increased its regular dividend for 40 consecutive years.
Finally we have Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY -0.79%) prescribing fatter dividends. The pharmaceuticals giant is pushing its quarterly rate 3% higher to $0.35 a share. The move pushes the stock's yield to a healthy 4.2%.
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.
