Dividend Challengers (And Near-Challengers): 82 Increases Expected By The End Of April

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again. I have separated the Champions (25 or more years of higher dividends), Contenders (10-24 years), and Challengers (5-9 years) into distinct groupings, so please look for the other articles, which I hope will be published about the same time. Note that "CCC" refers to the combination of Champions, Contenders, and Challengers.
Momentum Continues
As previously mentioned, dividend increase announcements pick up in February and March, following Annual Earnings announcements, and then remain strong heading into Shareholder Meeting Season in April and May. So, after activity picked up in recent weeks, you can see in the table below that it should remain robust as we head into Spring. The number of announcements for all Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and Near-Challengers expected in the next 11 weeks has decreased from to 190 a month ago to 128 now, but anything over 100 falls in the "above average" category.
The table below coincides with the usual "forward look" of about 11 weeks for this article. Based on last year's announcements, I'm expecting the following companies to announce dividend increases between now and the anniversary of the... Read more