Dividend Challengers (And Near-Challengers): 38 Increases Expected By Halloween

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.
Dividend Growth Slows (Temporarily)
The Dividend Growth "vacation" that dominated the early part of Summer gave way to a pick-up in August and September (by Ex-Dividend Date), but will slip back into "late vacation" mode before accelerating in the fourth quarter. The number of announcements for all Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and Near-Challengers expected in the next 11 weeks has decreased from 102 a month ago to just 72 now, well "below average" category, but due to increase in this year's fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2017.
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... Read more