A. Schulman (SHLM) Declares $0.155 Quarterly Dividend; 2.8% Yield

A. Schulman, Inc. (Nasdaq: SHLM) has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.155 per common share, $0.62 annualized. The dividend is payable February 1, 2011, to shareholders of record on January 19, 2011. The ex-dividend date is January 17, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 2.8%.... more

The Andersons: An Agriculture Stock That Pays Dividends

In Vermont, the general store is as common as muddy back roads. These local hangouts are commonly the closest available option for bread, milk, and coffee - as well as any fresh produce that may have been grown by local farmers. They are sort of a potpourri of variety - selling everything from food to Frisbees, and even a few bags of cat food too. If I could buy stock in them I would - because they always have customers and are always open when I need something.... more

RPM Int'l (RPM) Declares $0.21 Quarterly Dividend; 3.8% Yield

RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM) today announced that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per share, $0.84 annualized. The dividend is payable on January 31, 2011 to stockholders of record as of January 14, 2011. The ex-dividend date is January 12, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 3.8%.... more

A New Sweet Spot for Dividend-Seekers

It's an unfortunate, and frequent, occurrence in the small-cap investing world: Most of the best-performing funds attract a lot of attention and money, forcing many of them to shut their doors to new business. After all, small-cap funds can't function with a huge asset load. They need a smaller profile to jump into and out of smaller companies without moving the market. Fortunately, one first-rate small-cap-focused fund shop remains largely open for business, and it's making plans to expand its fund lineup into one of the more promising sectors of the market. Expanding their horizonsRoyce & Associates has been honing its skills in the small-cap market for nearly four decades. Its value-oriented investment approach has brought Royce tremendous success over the years, and the company... more

Highest-Yielding Pharma Stocks (You Might Actually Want to Buy)

The power of dividend investing is pretty well-known these days. Higher-yielding stocks tend to offer higher returns over time than low- or no-yield stocks, according to research from Jeremy Siegel and others. In fact, the 20 best-performing survivor stocks from the original S&P 500 in 1957 are all dividend payers. What's more, reinvesting dividends acts as a "bear-market protector and return accelerator," according to Siegel. The extra shares purchased and accumulated at higher dividend yields during down periods act as a protector in falling markets, and these extra shares rising in value turn into a "return accelerator" when prices rise.... more

Spectra Energy (SE) Increases Quarterly Dividend 4% to $0.26; Yields 4.2%

Spectra Energy Corp (NYSE: SE) has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.26 per share, $1.04 annualized. The dividend is a 4% increase from the current rate of $0.25. The dividend is payable on March 14, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 11, 2011. The ex-dividend date is February 9, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 4.2%.... more

Sovran Self Storage (SSS) Declares $0.45 Quarterly Dividend; 4.8% Yield

Sovran Self Storage, Inc. (NYSE: SSS) has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share of common stock, $1.80 annualized. The dividend will be paid on January 26, 2011 to Shareholders of record on January 13, 2011. The ex-dividend date is January 11, 2011. Yield on the dividend is 4.8%.... more

Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) Raises Quarterly Cash Dividend

Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. (Nasdaq: OZRK) has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per common share payable January 21, 2011 to shareholders of record as of January 14, 2011. The dividend of $0.17 per share represents an increase of $0.01 per share, or 6.25%, over the dividend paid in the previous quarter. The Company has increased its quarterly dividend in four of the last five quarters.... more

Vale's Extraordinary Dividend

Brazilian miner Vale S.A. (VALE) proposed to pay an extraordinary dividend of $1.0 billion or $0.19 per share with the record date of January 14, 2011. The holders of ADRs and Hong Kong Depositary Receipts (HDRs) will have the record dates as of January 19, 2011. However, the decision is pending for approval on January 14, 2011. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, Vale authorized the buy-back of 64.8 million common shares and 98.4 million preferred shares for a total amount of $2 billion until March 2011. The company also proposed a total dividend of $2.75 billion with $1.25 billion as minimum payment, and $500 million as additional dividend. Through these initiatives, Vale is trying to raise shareholders’ wealth and confidence toward the stock.... more

Updated Dow Dog Dividend Champions for 2011

In an article last week, I discussed the “Dogs of the Dow” strategy, which calls for buying the 10 highest yielding companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the end of the year. I decided to compare the Dogs (along with the rest of the components in that index) to my listing of Dividend Champions/Contenders/Challengers, which can be found here. My thinking was that investors might want to consider not just the current yield, but also the history of each company increasing its dividend on an annual basis, as well as the payout ratio for each company. Since I was using the prices as of December 28, the Dogs list was not yet final, and I stated that slight changes in the last few trading days of 2010 could easily cause Intel (INTC) to take the #10 place of General Electric (GE)... more