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 Boeing (BA -0.24%).
The aerospace contractor is letting its quarterly dividend ascend 10% to $0.485 a share. Boeing will also return money to its shareholders through buybacks. It still has $3.6 billion left to repurchase through an earlier authorization. It will resume working that down with plans to buy between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in 2013.
Western Asset Mortgage Capital (WMC) also hiked investor interest last week. The REIT that invests primarily in residential mortgage-backed securities is lifting its quarterly rate by $0.05 a share to $0.90 a share. The REIT also declared an additional distribution of $0.22 a share.
Yield chasers may need to be careful in pursuing this beefy 16.7% yield, but the increased payout is certainly encouraging to see.
Drug giant Pfizer's (PFE 2.40%) quarterly disbursements are rising 9% higher. Shareholders will now be receiving $0.24 a share every three months. The move pushes Pfizer's yield to a hearty 3.8%.
Finally we have Discover Financial Services (DFS 0.87%) charging higher. The market was concerned about the credit card company's bottom-line miss last Thursday morning, but tucked into the poorly received report was a 40% hike to the company's payouts. Discover's new quarterly rate will be $0.14 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. A 30-day trial subscription will let you see if it's right for you.
