Five Dividend Machines Raising Distributions

The dividend approach to investing is not a get rich scheme. Investors who ultimately make money with dividends are interested in slow but steady returns, low volatility and positive feedback in the form of dividends during all market environments. The companies that manage to raise dividends for long periods of time are characterized by having a strong brand, and strong competitive advantages that help them increase earnings over time. Only companies that expect strong earnings in the foreseeable future will commit to raising dividends. As a result investors in these dividend machines enjoy an increasing stream of dividend income, which matches or exceeds inflation over time.The companies that announced dividend increases over the past week include:... more

IESI-BFC (BIN) Declares $0.125 Quarterly Dividend; 2.1% Yield

IESI-BFC Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) today declared regular cash dividends of Canadian $0.125 per share, $0.50 annualized. The dividend is payable on October 15, 2010 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 30, 2010. The ex-dividend date is September 28, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 2.1%.... more

Hill-Rom Holdings (HRC) Declares $0.1025 Quarterly Dividend; 1.2% Yield

Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC) announced today that its board of directors has declared a fiscal 2010 fourth quarter dividend of $0.1025 per share, $0.41 annualized. This dividend is payable on September 30, 2010, to shareholders of record as of September 16, 2010. The ex-dividend date is September 14, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 1.2%.... more

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) Raises FY10 EPS Outlook, Comments on Buybacks, Dividends Over Next 18 Months

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) raises its FY10 EPS guidance from $1.73-$1.77 to $1.78-$1.82. The Street is looking for FY10 EPS of $1.81. Says FY11 EPS likely over prior target due to buybacks. Expects to buyback up to $1 billion in stock over the next 18 months. The company also said it expects to pay yearly dividends of $0.50/share.... more

Casey's (CASY) Reports Inline Q1 Adj-EPS of 81c; Raises Qtr. Dividend by 35% to $0.135/Share

Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY) reports Q1 EPS of $0.81, ex-items, inline with the analyst estimate of $0.81. Revenue for the quarter was $1.362 billion, which compares to the estimate of $1.36 billion. Same store prepared food, fountain sales up 2.4%. Raises its quarterly dividend by 35% to $0.135 per common share.... more

CapitalSource (CSE) Declares $0.01 Quarterly Dividend; 0.7% Yield

CapitalSource Inc. (NYSE: CSE) today announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per share, $0.04 annualized. The dividend will be payable on or about September 30, 2010 to shareholders of record on September 16, 2010. The ex-dividend date will be September 14, 2010. Yield on the dividend is 0.7%.... more

Four Dividend-Growth Stocks, One Year Later

Happy anniversary to me. Sort of. I’ve been writing on Seeking Alpha about a year now, and decided that as the anniversary date of old articles popped onto the calendar (at the 12 to 15 month mark), I’d scratch out a quick update on how things turned out so far - stock fundamentals, dividend growth, total returns and so forth, along with a link to the original article so readers can keep me honest.... more

Dividend Champions: Steady-Stream Model 3

The Dividend Champions spreadsheet has been updated through 8/31/10To download the latest version of the U.S. Dividend Champions spreadsheet or PDF, go here.In separate articles, I discussed how a retirement-age investor might use the new Quarterly Schedule column to spread out their holdings by Pay Dates throughout the typical quarter so as to match spending needs, and then I went through a model-building exercise designed for investors that are far from retirement, perhaps even just starting out. But the story doesn't end there...... more

Dividend Reinvestment Plans, Part 2 - The Case Against DRIPs

In Part 1 of this article, we explored the benefits of using a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) approach to improve investment returns through cost-averaging. In Part 2, we will explore the opposite perspective of how DRIPs may reduce your investment returns. Let me start off by stating that I am aware that this is an unpopular topic - there are many people who are avid DRIP investors. The purpose of this second article is not to deny the value of DRIPs; rather it is to identify circumstances where DRIPs provide the investor less value.There are several reasons not to participate in DRIPs. The down-side of inconveniences and certain costs are well-explained in the article “Are Drips Worth It?”. However, most of the costs that are identified are minor (for example, the transaction... more

The Most Popular Dividend Play in Computers

As an investor, it doesn't pay to follow the crowd. In this series, though, we highlight a possible exception -- the collective wisdom of our CAPS community. Read the next section if you're unfamiliar with our methodology. Skip it if you want to go straight to the results.... more