Two of the biggest dividend stocks on the planet — hamburger slinger McDonald’s (MCD) and ubiquitous software giant Microsoft (MSFT) — decided that this week was a good time to make shareholders happy. And, one of the best ways to do that is by announcing bigger dividends.

On Thursday, McDonald’s, still by far the world’s largest restaurant company, fattened up its payout to shareholders by 5%. One day earlier, tech giant “Mister Softee” — still the biggest software company in the world — moved to enhance its dividend by 11%.

Although two Dow Jones Industrial Average  components increasing dividends in the same week is a big deal for income investors, McDonald’s and Microsoft weren’t the only two dividend stocks increasing payouts. Six other well-known firms also made cash boosts this week, including a supermarket giant and a supersized chipmaker.

Let’s take a closer look.

Diversified medical device maker Covidien (COV) upped its dividend by 13% to 36 cents per share from 32 cents. The new dividend is scheduled for Nov. 6 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 7. COV shares go ex-dividend on Oct. 3.
COV Dividend Yield: 1.57%

The holding company for the Idaho Power Company, Idacorp (IDA), turned up the juice on its quarterly payout by 9.3% to 47 cents per share from 43 cents. The bigger payment will be sent Dec. 1 to Idacorp shareholders of record as of Nov. 5. The stock goes ex-dividend Nov. 3.
IDA Dividend Yield: 3.41%

Supermarket stalwart Kroger (KR) stocked its fiscal shelves with a 12.1% bigger payment to shareholders, upping its dividend to 18.5 cents per share from 16.5 cents. The new dividend will be sent on Dec. 1 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 14. KR shares go ex-dividend on Nov. 12.
KR Dividend Yield: 1.41%

Mickey D’s said it would up its quarterly dividend to 85 cents per share from 81 cents. The larger fiscal portion will be served up on Dec. 15 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 1. MCD shares will go ex-dividend on Nov. 26.
MCD Dividend Yield: 3.47%

Seattle-based Microsoft said its board approved a 3-penny-per-share boost to its quarterly payment. The new payout of 31 cents per share is slated to be sent on Dec. 11 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 20. The shares will go ex-dividend two days before on Nov. 18.
MSFT Dividend Yield: 2.66%

Semiconductor firm Texas Instruments (TXN) increased the processing speed on its quarterly dividend by 13% to 34 cents per share to 30 cents. The bigger boom to shareholders will be delivered on Nov. 17 to shareholders of record on Oct. 31. TXN gave no ex-dividend date for the new dividend payout.
TXN Dividend Yield: 2.77%

Commercial REIT W.P. Carey Inc. (WPC) upped the rent it pays to shareholders by 4.4% to 94 cents per share from 90 cents. The new dividend is payable on Oct., 15 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 30. The stock will become ex-dividend on Sept. 26, and at more than 5%, it’s the highest yielder among these eight dividend stocks.
WPC Dividend Yield: 5.57%

WSFS Financial Corporation (WSFS) is the parent company of WSFS Bank, and this week it upped its shareholder allowance by 25% to 15 cents per share — the largest increase among this week’s list of dividend stocks. The new payment will be made on Nov. 21 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 7. WSFS goes ex-dividend on Nov. 5.
WFS Dividend Yield: 0.8%

As of this writing, Jim Woods did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.