How do you know when the dividend stock landscape is fertile? When tech-giant Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) ups its payout for the second time in six months — and is one of a dozen dividends stocks increasing their yield this week.
That’s exactly what happened last week, as the chipmaker highlighted another big week for dividend stocks. Intel raised its quarterly payout to shareholders by 16% to 21 cents per share from the previous payout of 18.12 cents. Intel said its new dividend payout will begin in the third quarter.
In addition to the Intel dividend increase, we also saw a boost from one of the biggest retail names out there, Macy’s (NYSE: M). The department store retail stock doubled its quarterly payout to shareholders to 10 cents per share from 5 cents. The dividend increase came along with a huge earnings beat, as Macy’s posted earnings of 30 cents per share, 11 cents more than Wall Street was anticipating. Macy’s also saw a big 5.4% jump in the all-important same store sales metric.
While Intel and Macy’s were the two most familiar names sweetening the dividend honey pot, they were by no means the only big names to share the wealth with stockholders. Here are 10 more companies increasing dividends last week.
Autoliv, Inc. (NYSE: ALV). The automotive safety systems maker loosened the seatbelt on its dividend, upping its quarterly payout to 45 cents per share, or a 5% increase over the previous payout. The dividend increase marks the fourth consecutive quarter that Autoliv has boosted its dividend. The new dividends will be made on September 1 to shareholders of record as of August 18.
BCE, Inc. (NYSE: BCE). The Canadian telecom giant rang up a 5% dividend call to shareholders, boosting its payout to C$2.07 per common share. The new dividend is payable July 15 to shareholders of record on June 15. The BCE dividend increase came despite the the parent company of Bell Canada’s lower-than-anticipated profit for the first quarter, a profit that dropped 29% from the same quarter a year-ago.
CA, Inc. (NYSE: CA). The business software maker CA badly missed quarterly estimates, as its business was hurt by continued weakness in its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations. The tech company also said it plans to sell its internet security business. Still, CA boosted its dividend to 5 cents per share from the previous 4 cents. The new dividend increase will be put into effect on June 16 as dividends are paid to shareholders of record as of May 23.
Delphi Financial Group (NYSE: DFG). The employee benefits underwriting firm wrote up an increased dividend to shareholders last week, upping its payout to 12 cents per share from the previous payout of 11 cents. The new Delphi dividend is payable June 8 to shareholders of record as of May 25.
Factset Research Systems (NYSE: FDS). The financial information provider did its research, and it determined that its dividend was too low. Factset boosted its quarterly payout by 17% to 27 cents per share from 23 cents. The new dividend is payable June 21 to shareholders of record as of May 31. The move comes about a month after Factset reported a 25% increase in quarterly earnings.
Hill-Rom Holdings (NYSE: HRC). The heath care services firm gave a healthy boost to its shareholders, upping the company’s quarterly dividend 10% to 11.25 cents per share. The new payout will be made on June 30 to shareholders of record as of June 16. The company also approved an expansion of its share repurchase authorization program by 3 million shares, bringing the remaining shares available for repurchase to 4.1 million.
Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK). The petroleum product transported pumped out a new dividend of 25 cents per share, or a 14% increase over its prior dividend. News of the increased payout came despite a January-March net loss that widened to $29.7 million, or 41 cents a share. Analysts were expecting a loss of just 40 cents.
Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR). The maker of frictionless bearings had little friction in its pocketbook, raising its dividend 11% to 20 cents per share from the previous 18 cents. The increased Timken dividend will be made on June 2 to shareholders of record as of May 20. The move comes about two weeks after Timken reported net income that nearly tripled in the first quarter.
Wabtec Corp. (NYSE: WAB). The locomotive and railway equipment maker rolled out an increase in its dividend to 3 cents per share from 1 cent per share. The boosted Wabtec payout will be made on August 31 to shareholders of record August 17. The company also announced a new share buyback authorization program of $150 million.
Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY). The precious metals miner dug up a 50% increase in its annual dividend to 18 cents per share from the previous annual payout of 12 cents. The new quarterly payout of 4.5 cents per share per will begin in the third quarter of 2011.
At the time of publication, Jim Woods held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
