It was a pretty quiet week for the Dividend Aristocrats, with only one company announcing a dividend.  And a potential future Aristocrat announced a dividend increase.

Family Dollar store in New York State. Photo courtesy of Random Retail via Flickr.

Retailer Family Dollar (Quote, Dividend History Summary) announced their latest quarterly dividend of 31 cents per share, payable on April 15th to shareholders of record on March 14th.  At the current annual rate of $1.24 per share, Family Dollar currently yields 1.97%.  Family Dollar last increased their dividend in the January payout and has increased their dividends for the last 38 years.

While not (yet) a Dividend Aristocrat, General Dynamics (GD) is a member of the S&P 500 index and this week grew their dividends for the 17th consecutive year.  The new dividend of 62 cents per share is a 10.7% increase from the prior dividend of 56 cents, and results in a current yield of 2.22%.  The increased payout will be paid on May 9th to shareholders of record on April 11th.  If General Dynamics continues this trend of dividend growth, the company will become a Dividend Aristocrat at the beginning of 2023.  General Dynamics is a diversified defense contractor that manufactures ground and naval combat systems including the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, Stryker light armored vehicle and Zumwalt-class destroyer.

Note: General Dynamics is listed as a member of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index; membership in this index requires at least 20 consecutive years of dividend increases.  General Dynamics stated that they’ve increased their dividends for 17 consecutive years, which is inconsistent with being part of the High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.  I’m trying to resolve this and as soon as I do, I’ll post an update to the website.