19 Companies Increasing Dividends

by Kyle Woodley | October 19, 2012 10:28 am

[1]After taking off a week, we found ourselves having to play a lot of catch-up on the dividend growth front. Most of the companies writing bigger checks aren’t in the most exciting businesses — we’re talking firms that do business in uniforms, wood and plastics, among others. But we did get one of Wall Street’s most prominent investment banks in the mix.

Plus, the increased payouts should be enough to get any income investor excited.

In all, 19 companies made our Companies Increasing Dividends[2] list covering the past two weeks. (Note: All new yields are as of Oct. 18 closing prices unless otherwise noted.)

Plastic compound and resin supplier A. Schulman (NASDAQ:SHLM[3]) molded a 2.6% dividend increase to 19.5 cents per share, payable Nov. 1 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 19. SHLM shares now yield 3.21%.

Diversified food and household goods company B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS[4]) served up a 7.4% payout hike to 29 cents per share, payable Jan. 30, 2013, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31. BGS’ yield is 3.99%.

Uniform provider Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS[5]) sewed up a 19% boost in its dividend to 64 shares, payable Dec. 12 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 9. CTAS now yields 1.51%.

Investment managing and counseling firm Eaton Vance (NYSE:EV[6]) informed investors that it would raise its dividend 5.3% to 20 cents per share, payable Nov. 14 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31. That marks the company’s 32nd consecutive fiscal year of hiking its payout. EV’s dividend now yields 2.74%.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD[7]), which provides midstream energy services for natural gas liquids and other commodities, is pumping out a 2% bigger quarterly payout of 65 cents per share. The distribution will be payable Nov. 8 to unitholders of record as of the close of business on Oct. 31. EPD now yields 4.77%[8].

Global investment banking titan Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS[9]) announced a new dividend deal alongside impressive third-quarter earnings[10]. GS is hiking its dividend 8.7% to 50 cents per share, payable Dec. 28 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 30. Goldman now pays out 1.6% in dividends.

Homeowner insurance provider Homeowners Choice (NASDAQ:HCII[11]) ensured a bigger payday for investors, increasing its quarterly dividend 12.5% to 22.5 cents per share. It also said it would dole out a special dividend of 10 cents per share. Both dividends are payable Dec. 21 to shareholders of record on the close of business Nov. 16. HCII now yields 3.72% as of Friday’s midday prices.

Global paper and packaging company International Paper (NYSE:IP[12]) produced a 14% dividend hike to 30 cents per share, payable Dec. 17 payable to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15. IP stock now yields 3.15%.

Gas servicer Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN[13]) heated up its quarterly dividend by 2% to 45.5 cents per share, payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31. NWN currently yields 3.67%.

Health care-focused REIT Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI[14]) built up its dividend 4.8% over the previous quarter’s payment, to 44 cents per share, payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of the close of business Oct. 31. OHI now yields 7.26%.

Pacific Continental (NASDAQ:PCBK[15]) — the holding company for Oregon’s Pacific Continental Bank — rung up a quarterly dividend hike of 16.6% to 7 cents per share. It also announced a special cash dividend of 4 cents per share. Both dividends are payable Nov. 13 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 31. PCBK now yields 3.13%.

Pinnacle West Capital (NYSE:PNW[16]), the holding company for utility Arizona Public Service, charged up its dividend by 4% to 54.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 3 to shareholders of record on Nov. 1. PNW’s new yield as of Friday prices is 4.04%.

Financial holding company Susquehanna Bancshares (NASDAQ:SUSQ[17]) pulled a 16.6% dividend hike from its vault, to 7 cents per share, payable Nov. 20 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 30. This is the fifth such increase since Q1 2011. SUSQ now yields 2.78%.

Midstream energy firm Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP[18]) tapped a 7% quarterly dividend increase to 42.25 cents per share, while its master limited partnership, Targa Resources Partners (NYSE:NGLS[19]), increased its payout 3% to 66.25 cents per share. Both will be payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record as of the close of business Oct. 22. TRGP yields 3.34%, while NGLS yields 6.24%.

Semiconductor company Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN[20]) powered up a 23.5% increase to its quarterly dividend, to 21 cents per share, payable Nov. 19 to shareholders of record on Oct. 31. TXN shares now yield 2.92%.

Business supply distributor United Stationers (NASDAQ:USTR[21]) ordered up an 8% dividend increase to 14 cents, payable Jan. 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Dec. 14. USTR’s dividend now yields 2.02%.

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC[22]) master limited partnership Western Gas Partners (NYSE:WES[23]) pumped out a 50-cent payout that’s 4% more than last quarter. The new dividend is payable Nov. 13 to unitholders of record as of Oct. 31. WES yields 3.8%.

Wood product firm Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY[24]) hammered out a 13% dividend increase to 17 cents per share, payable Nov. 30 to shareholders of record as of the close of business Nov. 9. WY’s yield is 2.39%.

Kyle Woodley is Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. For more payout winners, see our previous weeks’ lists of Companies Increasing Dividends[2].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/10/19-companies-increasing-dividends-2/

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