9 Important Dividend Increases

Dividend Increase – General Electric (GE)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) said Friday it would raise its quarterly dividend by 10%, to 12 cents a share from 10 cents. This dividend will be paid next quarter to shareholders of record as of September 16.

But shareholders might recall that in early 2009 the industrial behemoth based in Fairfield, Conn., slashed its payout by more than two-thirds, to 10 cents from 31 cents.

GE also said that its stock buyback program, which would have expired at year-end, would be extended through 2013.

In its earnings report earlier this month, GE said earnings from continuing operations rose 14% to $3.3 billion, or 30 cents a share. Sales, meanwhile, fell 4% to $37.4 billion in the quarter.

Looking forward, CEO Jeffrey Immelt said in a conference call that GE expects to pay 45% of earnings in 2012, what he called a “normal dividend.“ Immelt wants more cash on hand than in the financial crisis, and there should be less of a liquidity problem now with GE reporting it had $74 billion in cash and equivalents in the second quarter.

Dividend Increase – Starbucks (SBUX)

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) last week announced a 30% increase in its quarterly dividend, to 13 cents. The Seattle coffee giant will pay its dividend Aug. 20 to shareholders of record at the end of business Aug. 4.

In its earnings report last week, Starbucks announced record fiscal Q3 results, with earnings per share up 35% over the previous year’s numbers. SBUX operating margins rose 15.6 % and 10.3% in the U.S. and abroad, respectively.

Starbucks also announced targets for fiscal 2011: EPS growth of $1.36 to $1.41. And that’s after Starbucks takes out 4 cents for its own, more expensive cup of coffee.

Dividend Increase – Enbridge Energy (EEP)

Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EEP) owns and operates crude oil and liquid petroleum transportation and storage assets. This is a very reliable business, which means very reliable profits that Enbridge can deliver back to shareholders via a massive dividend.

That dividend just got bigger, too. Engridge announced last week a cash distribution of $1.0275 per share, an increase of 2.5% that pushes EEP stock’s dividend yield to about 7.1% based on current valuations.

Dividend Increase – Airgas (ARG)

Airgas, Inc. (NYSE: ARG) distributes industrial, medical and specialty gases in the United States. Not a glamorous business, but a profitable one as the economy picks up steam – pardon the pun!

Airgas raised its quarterly dividend from 22 cents a share to 25 cents last week – a nearly 14% increase that pushes ARG stock’s yield to about 1.5%.

The dividend increase comes after strong earnings from Airgas, including a profit jump of 18% on improved sales. Airgas also raised earnings guidance for the year to $3.15 to $3.30 a share from $2.95 to $3.05 as it had previously forecast.

Dividend Increase – Cummins (CMI)

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) reported strong second quarter earnings this week, tallying its highest earnings as a percentage of sales in over than 25 years. Sales were up 32%, and new income for Cummins more than quadrupled to $246 million or $1.25 a share, compared with $56 million or 28 cents a share last year.

Strong Cummins earnings resulted in a strong dividend increase for the company as well.  The company increased the quarterly cash dividend by 50 percent to 26.25 cents per share from 17.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Sept. 1 to shareholders of record on Aug. 23. This is the first time Cummins has raised its payout since July 2008. Cummins now boasts a yield of about 1.4% based on current valuations.

Dividend Increase – Crane (CR)

Crane Co. (NYSE: CR), a manufacturer of industrial products, declared a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend on Monday. The move brings the company’s payout to 23 cents per share from 20 per share.

The dividend is payable on September 10 to shareholders of record as of August 31. Based on Crane’s annual dividend of 92 cents, the yield on this stock is now 2.6%.

The Connecticut-based company reported earnings this week that included top and bottom line growth from the year ago quarter of +1.3% and +44% respectively. Crane Co. easily topped estimates by over 13%.

Crane makes everything from electrical power components to brake control systems to fuel pumps to medical microelectronics. As the broader economy improves, this diverse company appears to be doing brisk business.

Dividend Increase – Eaton (ETN)

Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN), a power management company serving North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, increased its quarterly dividend 16% to 58 cents a share last week. This was the first dividend increase for Eaton since 2008.

Based on a current annual dividend of $2.32, the dividend yield of Eaton is now nearly 3% based on current pricing.

Eaton has 70,000 employees and a market cap of $13 billion, yet is a very low-profile company. ETN stock got some big attention last Wednesday, however, when Eaton posted outstanding earnings. ETN earned $1.36 a share which was 19 cents more than expectations. Eaton also gave very strong guidance, expecting third-quarter income per share of $1.25 to $1.35, with the Wall Street forecast $1.19.

Dividend Increase – Westfield Financial (WFD)

Westfield Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFD) is a bank holding company serving businesses and consumers in Massachusetts. The company just raised its dividend by 20% to 6 cents per share from 5 cents – not a huge increase, but with a share price of about $8.50 that equates to a nearly 3% dividend yield on the annual dividend of 24 cents a share.

The boost comes after Westfield Financial announced strong earnings, including a boost in profit for the first quarter by 12%. This improvement was due largely to fewer loan losses, and the need to put less money aside for bad debt.

Dividend Increase – Navios Maritime (NMM)

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM) operates drybulk carriers in Greece. Shipping stocks are notoriously volatile, but can often yield mammoth (though less reliable) dividends.

Navios Maritime just increased cash distributions by 1.2% to 42 cents a share last week, building on its record of raising payouts for the past two years. The increase pushes NMM stock’s dividend yield up to a stunning 9.2%