Dividend Contenders: 34 Increases Expected In The Next 11 Weeks

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.
Meeting Season Climaxes
As expected, the current impetus for hikes in the payouts is the plethora of Shareholder Meetings in April and May, after which we should see a lull in June and July. The number of announcements for all Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and Near-Challengers expected in the next 11 weeks has increased from to 87 a month ago to 126 now, putting it 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 Ex-Dividend Date of their previous increase:
Dividend Contenders (10-24 years):
Company
Ticker
No.
3/31
Div.
MR%
LY
Ann.
DGR
Name
Symbol
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