40 Blue Chips Increasing Dividends in Q3 2012

The ag sector was another thriving area for dividend improvements this quarter. Seeds and chemicals firm Monsanto (NYSE:MON), as well as Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Potash (NYSE:POT) — which produce phosphates, potash and other agricultural products — all hiked their payouts. But Mosaic was the belle of the dividend ball, injecting a 400% booster shot to its quarterly check.

It has been a pretty poor year for railroad operator Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC), with shares down more than 12% year-to-date. Things were looking good during the summer, as NSC staged a recovery and announced a slight increase in its dividend, but lowered guidance announced in September took NSC shares off the tracks.

Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) continued to catch up with its higher-yielding tobacco brethren this quarter. After its latest increase, PM now is paying out 85 cents a share — an 80%-plus improvement upon its original post-spin-off dividend, resulting in a yield of almost 3.8%.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), a manufacturer of hard-disk drives and other memory products, also ranks among the best-performing stocks through 2012. But in addition to roughly 80% gains in 2012, STX investors also were rewarded with a plumper dividend as of August.

Telecom giant Verizon (NYSE:VZ) didn’t do much to its dividend, ticking it up a mere 3% in the third quarter, but investors aren’t complaining. For one, Verizon is boasting market-matching 14% gains year-to-date — a nice move for a supposedly no-growth telecom stock. But more important, at 4.5%, Verizon continues to be the second-best-yielding Dow Dividend stock, outdone only by rival AT&T (NYSE:T)

Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Follow him on Twitter at @IPKyleWoodley.