Epiq Systems (EPIQ) Declares $0.035 Quarterly Dividend; 1.1% Yield

Epiq Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPIQ) has approved a cash dividend of $0.035 per common share, $0.14 annualized. The quarterly dividend will be payable February 17, 2011, to shareowners of record at the close of business on January 27, 2011. The ex-dividend date is January 25, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 1.1%.... more

Aon Corp. (AON) Declares $0.15 Quarterly Dividend; 1.4% Yield

Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) today announced that the Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share, $0.60 annualized. The dividend is payable on February 15, 2011 to shareholders of record on February 1, 2011. The ex-dividend date is January 27, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 1.4%.... more

Fastenal (FAST) Declares $0.50 Quarterly Dividend; 3.3% Yield

The Fastenal Company of Winona, MN (Nasdaq: FAST) reported its Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.50 per share, $2.00 annualized. The dividend is to be paid in cash on February 25, 2011 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 15, 2011. The ex-dividend date is February 11, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 3.3%.... more

China Nepstar (NPD) Declares 30c/ADS Special Dividend

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore (NPD) announces the declaration of a special dividend of 30c/ADS, payable before or around Feb. 28 to shareholders of record on Jan. 31. The ex-dividend date is Jan. 26. With the stock closing at $4.21 on Thursday, the special dividend will yield 7.13%.... more

Cabot Corp (CBT) Declares $0.18 Quarterly Dividend; 1.7% Yield

Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, $0.72 annualized. The dividend is payable on March 11, 2011 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 25, 2011. The ex-dividend date is February 23, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 1.7%.... more

Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) Declares $0.45 Quarterly Dividend; 7.3% Yield

Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT) today announced a regular quarterly dividend of $0.45 per common share, $1.80 annualized. This regular quarterly dividend will be paid to common shareholders of record as of the close of business on January 28, 2011 and distributed on or about February 23, 2011. The ex-dividend date is February 21, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 7.3%.... more

Rockwell Collins (COL) Declares $0.24 Quarterly Dividend; 1.5% Yield

Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share on its common stock, $0.96 annualized. The dividend is payable March 7, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 14, 2011. The ex-dividend date is February 10, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 1.5%.... more

Prediction: Apple to Announce Dividend Today

There has never been a more perfect time in the last few years than today for Apple (AAPL) to declare its first-ever dividend. A confluence of events have made this a reasonable scenario. Apple just announced yesterday that Steve Jobs was taking a leave of absence for medical reasons for an unknown period of time. While we have seen this movie before, there are some notable differences:... more

Dividend Growth and the S&P 500

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet (and PDF) have been updated through 12/31/10 and is posted here. Note that all references to Champions mean companies that have paid higher dividends for at least 25 straight years; Contenders have streaks of 10-24 years; Challengers have streaks of 5-9 years. Dividend Growth and the S&P 500... more

4 High Yield Stocks With a Track Record of Raising Dividends

The following is a list of dividend paying stocks with yields above 4%. All of the stocks mentioned below have a track record of raising dividends more aggressively than their competitors over the last five years.To control the quality of the list, we only focused on stocks with trailing twelve month payout ratios below 45% (to maximize the probability of finding companies that have the ability to keep paying their dividends).... more