Dividend Challengers (And Near-Challengers): 50 Increases Expected By The End Of August

In compiling the Dividend Champions list, 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.
Summer Lull Continues
The pace of dividend-increase announcements eased considerably last month, heading into Summer, and except for a couple of surges, we should see that slowdown continue through Labor Day. The number of announcements for all Champions, Contenders, Challengers, and Near-Challengers expected in the next 11 weeks has increased to 82 from just 53 a month ago, but is still well below the 186 during the busiest season around Groundhog Day.
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 Challengers (5-9 years):
Company
Ticker
No.
5/31/17
Div.
MR%
LY
DGR
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