Caterpillar (CAT +0.44%) is keeping its quarterly dividend policy steady. For its first payout of 2013, the company will hand out $0.52 per share of its common stock on May 20 to shareholders of record as of April 22. That matches the distribution of the preceding three quarters. Before that, the company disbursed $0.46 per share.
Caterpillar is a reliable dividend payer. In recent times, it has tended to raise its payout once every year. Since mid-2005, its distribution has climbed steadily from $0.25 per share to today's $0.52.
The current dividend annualizes to $2.08 per share, which yields 2.4% at Caterpillar's current stock price of $86.57.
