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 CSX (CSX 0.67%).

The railroad giant found a way to split its tracks to return more money to its stakeholders in two different ways. Naturally, there was a dividend increase, and CSX's quarterly rate is chugging 7% higher to $0.15 a share. However, CSX also initiated a new share buyback plan where it plans to repurchase $1 billion of its shares over the next two years.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN 0.23%) also beefed up those two paths to rewarding investors. The Ohio-based banker is jacking up its quarterly disbursements 25% to $0.05 a share. The board is also approving a new repurchase authorization of $227 million of common stock. Huntington's moves came despite net income clocking in slightly lower than during the same quarter a year earlier.

Kinder Morgan (KMI 2.53%) also keeps inching its distributions higher. The country's largest midstream oil and gas company will now be shelling out $0.38 a share every three months. This may be a marginal uptick from the $0.37 a share it paid out three months ago, but Kinder Morgan's payouts have risen 19% over the past year.

Of course, Kinder Morgan's move up was accompanied by a slight bump in the rate at Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP). Kinder Morgan owns the general partner of the limited partnership that specializes in pipeline transportation and energy storage. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners now yields 5.7%.

Finally we have Procter & Gamble (PG 0.86%) on the move. Consumers associate Procter & Gamble for its laundry list of consumer non-durables brands that includes Pampers diapers, Bounty paper towels, Duracell batteries, and Gillette shavers. However, investors warm up to Procter & Gamble for its consistent streak of hikes. The move last week to push its quarterly dividend 7% higher to $0.6015 makes it 57 consecutive years of payout increases for Procter & Gamble.

Checks and balances
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