High yield dividend stocks continue to be in favor as investors look for the safety of a quarterly payday and stocks with good cash flow. But how can you be sure that your dividend stock investment will keep paying you back? One good way is to make sure you’re buying companies that are raising their dividends instead of just keeping them steady – or even worse, cutting them.
Typically dividend increases are tied to quarterly reports or annual shareholder meetings, so it’s pretty quiet on the dividend increase front this week. However, there are a few stocks raising their yields worth pointing out:
Philip Morris Dividend Increase
Today, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) said it will boost its dividend by +10.3% to 64 cents a share from 58 cents. That gives PM an annualized dividend of $2.56 for a yield of 4.3%.
The quarterly dividend is payable Oct. 8 to Philip Morris shareholders as of Sept. 24.
PM is the latest in a line of tobacco stocks that have increased their yields. Lorillard (NYSE: LO) and Altria (NYSE: MO) increased dividends last week.
Flexsteel Dividend Increase
Flexsteel Industries (NASDAQ: FLXS), a microcap furniture company, has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share — a 50% increase — payable October 1 to shareholders of record as of September 20. That gives FLXS stock a yield of 2.0% at current pricing, and an annual payout of 30 cents. FLXS stock has had a banner 2010, up +43% year-to-date. Flexsteel has paid cash dividends each year since 1938 on its common stock, and this marks the 275th consecutive cash dividend for the Iowa company.
Westlake Dividend Increase
Monday morning, Westlake Chemical (NYSE: WLK) declared a quarterly dividend of 6.35 cents per share, an increase of about +9% over its prior payout. That gives WLK stock an annual payday of a little over a quarter per share for a yield of about 1%. The chemical company is up about +9% year to date, compared with a fairly flat market.
Brady Dividend Increase
Identification company Brady Corp. (NYSE: BRC) announced a tiny increase in its annual dividend to shareholders, from 70 cents to 72 cents a share – an extra half-penny a quarter. The next 18-cent quarterly payday will come October 29 to shareholders of record October 8. The move, though fairly small, represents the 25th consecutive annual increase in dividends for Brady. BRC has a yield of about 2.6% right now, and shares have lost about -10% since January 1.
Frisch’s Dividend Increase
Microcap restaurateur and operator of Big Boy and Golden Corral locations, Frisch’s Restaurants, Inc. (AMEX: FRS) announced a 15 cent quarterly dividend, a boost of 15% or two cents over the previous payday of 13 cents. The 60 cent annualized dividend gives FRS stock a yield of about 3%. This represents an increase of two cents per share, or 15% in the regular quarterly dividend rate, and will be the 199th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by Frisch’s. Shares of the restaurant stock have suffered in the economic downturn, and have lost -17% year-to-date in 2010.
As of this writing, Jeff Reeves did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
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