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 Burger King Worldwide (BKW.DL). The Whopper flipper is returning more of its money to investors as it shakes up its management ranks. The fast-food chain's new quarterly dividend of $0.06 a share is a 20% improvement. Burger King's board is also authorizing a $200 million buyback.
BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (BPT 1.34%) is also fueling its distributions. The trust's new quarterly payout comes out to $2.4147517 a unit. We're really splitting pennies here, but it's actually a reasonable 4% increase over its earlier rate.
The trust holds royalty interests in minerals in the Alaskan Prudhoe Bay oil field. As production increases, so in theory should its disbursements.
Plains All American Pipeline (PAA -0.22%) is also gushing. The limited partnership that transports and stores crude oil and refined products detailed a quarterly distribution of $0.575 per unit. This is a modest sequential 2% increase, but it's 10% higher than it was a year earlier.
Plains All American has come through with 15 consecutive quarters -- yes, quarters -- of increases. If we go out over the past nine years, the partnership has declared meatier disbursements in 34 of those 36 quarters.
Finally, we have Weyerhaeuser (WY) stakeholders knocking on wood. The timberlands manager is boosting its quarterly dividend 18% to $0.20 a share. Weyerhaeuser has juiced up its distributions by 33% since last summer.
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.
