Photo: Flickr.com/U.S. Embassy Uruguay
Four dividend increases punctuated 12 dividend announcements this week. The increases were small, with the largest being a 5% increase from utility company Vectren Corporation. Significantly, real estate investment trust HCP, Inc. spun off some of its properties into a separate company, Quality Care Properties (QCP) and, in the process, reduced its quarterly dividend by 36% to 37 cents a share. QCP has yet to announce its dividend; if the combined dividends of the two companies are not an increase from HCP’s 2015 dividend, we may see HCP come off the list of Dividend Aristocrats.
S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM)
Industry: Consumer Goods – Farm Products
Dividend Payment: 30 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 12/7
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/14
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 55
Current Forward Yield: 2.56%
Industry: Business Services – Wholesale Drugs
Dividend Payment: 44.89 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 1/15/2017
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 12/29
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 32
Current Forward Yield: 2.76%
Industry: Industrial Goods – Machinery
Dividend Payment: 44 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 12/15
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/28
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 61
Current Forward Yield: 2.69%
Industry: Industrial Goods
Dividend Payment: 48 cents per share – up 1.1% from prior level of 47.5 cents
Dividend Paid On: 12/9
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/9
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 60
Current Forward Yield: 3.89%
Industry: REIT
Dividend Payment: 37 cents per share – down 35.7% from prior level of 57.5 cents
Dividend Paid On: 11/25
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/8
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 30
Current Forward Yield: 5.01%
S&P 500 High Yield Dividend Aristocrats
Industry: Specialty Chemicals
Dividend Payment: 30.5 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 1/2/2017
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 12/13
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 22
Current Forward Yield: 1.46%
Industry: Packaging
Dividend Payment: 29 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 12/1
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/14
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 33
Current Forward Yield: 2.42%
Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT)
Industry: REIT
Dividend Payment: 98 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 1/17/2017
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 12/28
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 49
Current Forward Yield: 2.84%
Mercury General Corporation (MCY)
Industry: Financial – Insurance
Dividend Payment: 62.25 cents per share – up 0.4% from prior level of 62 cents
Dividend Paid On: 12/29
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 12/13
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 26
Current Forward Yield: 4.54%
United Bankshares, Inc. (UBSI)
Industry: Regional Banking
Dividend Payment: 33 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 1/3/2017
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 12/7
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 43
Current Forward Yield: 3.55%
Industry: Utilities – Electricity & Gas
Dividend Payment: 42 cents per share – up 5.0% from prior level of 40 cents
Dividend Paid On: 12/1
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/10
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 57
Current Forward Yield: 3.49%
Industry: Utilities – Water
Dividend Payment: 19.13 cents per share
Dividend Paid On: 12/1
Stock Goes Ex-Dividend (own the stock before this date to collect the dividend): 11/14
Number of Years of Dividend Increases: 25
Current Forward Yield: 2.66%
Next Week’s Ex-Dividend Stocks
Tuesday, November 8:
Wednesday, November 9:
Linear Technology Corporation (LLTC)
Thursday, November 10:
Friday, November 11:
None.
Monday, November 14: