6 Companies Increasing Dividends

by Jim Woods | March 30, 2012 12:05 pm

This week’s dividend news was relatively modest, with only a handful of companies announcing boosted payouts. Yet the calm close to the quarter is anything but characteristic of the dividend fireworks we witnessed over the past three months.

During the first quarter we saw scores of high-profile companies boost their payouts, and we even saw a first-ever dividend from almighty Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL[1]). And though this week’s batch of payout performers is rather placid, we will soon begin seeing earnings results for Q1, which is likely to bring forth a whole new bevy of boosted bonuses to shareholders. Here are six stocks increasing dividends this week:

Egg and poultry producer Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM[2]) boosted dividends 12.3%, to 36.4 cents per share. The new payout will be made on May 10 to shareholders of record as of April 25. The new dividend yield, based on the March 29 closing price of $39.04 (the day the dividend was announced), is 3.74%.

Clothing company Oxford Industries (NYSE:OXM[3]), purveyors of brands such as Tommy Bahama, Ben Sherman and Lily Pulitzer, donned a new set of dividend threads, dressing up its quarterly payout to shareholders by 15%, to 15 cents per share. The new dividend is payable April 27 to shareholders of record as of April 13. The new dividend yield, based on the March 27 closing price of $49.62, is 1.21%.

Industrial manufacturer Raven Industries (NASDAQ:RAVN[4]) makes agricultural, industrial, construction and military/aerospace equipment, and this week the black bird made a bigger dividend for shareholders. The company boosted its quarterly payout 17%, to 21 cents per share. The new dividend is payable April 25 to shareholders of record as of April 10. The new dividend yield, based on the March 26 closing price of $62.24, is 1.35%.

Texas-based financial holding company Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI[5]) declared a Texas-sized stock and cash dividend. The company will pay a 5% common stock dividend to shareholders, and it also increased its cash dividend by 11.1%, to 20 cents per share. Both payouts will be made on May 9 to shareholders of record April 18. The new dividend yield, based on the March 29 closing price of $22.17, is 3.61%.

Death-care industry services and products provider Stewart Enterprises (NASDAQ:STEI[6]) raised its quarterly payout 14%, to 16 cents per share. The new dividend is payable April 26 to shareholders of record as of April 12. The new dividend yield, based on the March 27 closing price of $6.13, is 2.61%.

Enterprise data-storage maker Xraytex Ltd. (NASDAQ:XRTX[7]) boosted its payout to shareholders by 15.4%, to 7.5 cents per share. The new dividend is payable April 26 to shareholders of record as of April 12. The new dividend yield, based on the March 29 closing price of $17.82, is 1.68%. The company also reported that first-quarter net income more than doubled despite flooding in Thailand that crimped its supply lines.

At the time of publication, Jim Woods held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this article.

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