This week, two Dividend Aristocrats announced regular dividend payments while another two dividend growth stocks also announced regular dividend payments.
AT&T and McCormick Announce Regular Dividends
AT&T announced its latest dividend payout this week.
Photo courtesy Chris Young/flickr.com
Communications company AT&T (T) announced its latest regular quarterly dividend payment of 46 cents per share. The dividend is payable on August 1st to shareholders of record on July 10th. The company, which has increased dividends for 30 years, most recently increased the dividend at the beginning of 2014 by 2.2% – from 45 cents to 46 cents per share. The stock currently has an above average yield of 5.20%. More information is available on DividendAristocratStock.com’s company summary page for AT&T.
Maryland – based spice and flavor company McCormick & Company (MKC) announced a regular dividend payment of 37 cents per share, payable on July 21st to shareholders of record on July 7th. The company has paid dividends for 90 years and increased them annually since 1987. At the beginning of 2014, McCormick & Company increased its dividend for the 28th consecutive year, from an annual rate of $1.36 to $1.48 – an increase of 8.8%, giving the stock a current yield of 2.07%. More information is available on the company summary page for McCormick & Company.
Two Other Dividend Growth Stocks Announce Regular Dividends
Two other stocks with long-term records of dividend growth also announced regular dividend payouts:
CLARCOR Inc. (CLC), manufacturer of industrial filtration systems and consumer packaging, announced a quarterly dividend payment of 17 cents per share, payable on July 18th to shareholders of record on July 7th. The company, which has paid dividends since 1920 and increased them annually since 1983, increased the annual dividend payout in September 2013 by nearly 26%. Despite the 30-year record of dividend growth, the company is not a member of the S&P 500 and does not qualify as an S&P Dividend Aristocrat. With an annual payout of 68 cents, the stock currently yields 1.10%.
WGL Holdings, Inc. (WGL), the holding company for multiple gas energy subsidiaries serving the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., announced a regular dividend payment of 44 cents per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on August 1st to shareholders of record on July 10th. The company began increasing dividends in 1977 and last increased its dividend in April 2014, raising the quarterly payout by 4.76% to 44 cents from 42 cents per share. Like CLARCOR, WGL Holdings is not a Dividend Aristocrat because it is not a member of the S&P 500. With an annual dividend of $1.76 per share, WGL’s stock currently yields 4.12%.
There are 54 S&P Dividend Aristocrats that have increased dividends for more than a quarter century. See the full list of Dividend Aristocrats.