28 Companies Expected to Increase Their Dividends in the Next 10 Weeks - Seeking Alpha

In compiling the Dividend Champions list (found here) I get to see which companies are nearing the anniversaries of their previous dividend increases. Since most of these firms raise their payout about the same time every year, I can say with some confidence that they are likely to do so again.

Format Refined

With this article in the new twice-monthly format, I'm again extending the forward look to a period of about 10 weeks. The previous article appeared on May 26^th and can be found here.

and that article extended the forward look from 60 days to more than nine weeks. But there were still some companies that seem to announce increases more than two months before the next Ex-Dividend Date, so I'm extending the “forward look” again. Of the 20 companies listed in the previous article, seven announced increases, including one – FedEx Corp. (FDX) – that graduated to Contender status with its 10^th straight year of higher dividends. Based on last year's announcements, I'm expecting the following companies to announce dividend increases between now and the anniversary of their previous increase:

Dividend Champions (25 or more years):

		No.	5/31		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Medtronic Inc.	MDT	33	40.70	2.21	0.2250	9.76	7/7/10
Helmerich & Payne Inc.	HP	38	62.68	0.38	0.0600	20.00	8/11/10
Carlisle Companies	CSL	34	48.60	1.40	0.1700	6.25	8/13/10
Walgreen Company	WAG	35	43.63	1.60	0.1750	27.27	8/17/10

Dividend Contenders (10-24 years):

		No.	5/31		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
John Wiley & Sons Inc.	JW.A	17	53.00	1.21	0.1600	14.29	7/2/10
A.O. Smith Corp.	AOS	17	41.47	1.35	0.1400	7.69	7/28/10
AptarGroup Inc.	ATR	17	53.40	1.35	0.1800	20.00	7/28/10
National Retail Prop.	NNN	21	25.78	5.90	0.3800	1.33	7/28/10
CARBO Ceramics	CRR	10	150.27	0.53	0.2000	11.11	7/30/10
Inergy LP	NRGY	10	37.09	7.60	0.7050	1.44	8/4/10
Murphy Oil Corp.	MUR	15	68.89	1.60	0.2750	10.00	8/12/10
Alterra Capital Holdings	ALTE	10	22.75	2.11	0.1200	20.00	8/13/10

Dividend Challengers (5-9 years):

		No.	5/31		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Communications Sys.	JCS	8	18.40	3.26	0.1500	7.14	6/17/10
Darden Restaurants	DRI	6	50.65	2.53	0.3200	28.00	7/7/10
General Mills	GIS	7	39.77	2.82	0.2800	14.29	7/8/10
MSC Industrial Direct	MSM	8	69.51	1.27	0.2200	10.00	7/9/10
Astrazeneca plc	AZN	7	52.40	4.60	1.2050	15.31	8/4/10
Landstar System Inc.	LSTR	6	47.32	0.42	0.0500	11.11	8/5/10
Duke Energy Corp.	DUK	6	18.75	5.23	0.2450	2.08	8/11/10
Lindsay Corp.	LNN	8	67.08	0.51	0.0850	6.25	8/13/10
Maxim Integrated Prod.	MXIM	9	27.25	3.08	0.2100	5.00	8/18/10
Oil-Dri Corp. of America	ODC	8	22.28	2.87	0.1600	6.67	8/18/10
Ritchie Brothers Auction.	RBA	8	27.72	1.52	0.1050	5.00	8/18/10
Cummins Inc.	CMI	5	105.24	1.00	0.2625	50.00	8/19/10
Ryder System	R	6	55.00	1.96	0.2700	8.00	8/19/10
Steris Corp.	STE	6	36.09	1.66	0.1500	36.36	8/20/10

I also anticipate that two companies in the Appendix (on the Note tab) –Altera Corp. (ALTR) and Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) - will boost their dividends during this period, marking their fifth straight year of increases and promoting them to Challenger status. Both hiked their dividend last year with Ex-Dividend Dates in the first week of August.

There may be other companies that announce increases in the coming weeks, such as those that increase the payout on a quarterly or irregular basis. (Companies generally make dividend declarations anywhere from two days to six weeks before the Ex-Dividend Date.) Several MLPs (Master Limited Partnerships) tend to increase the payout each quarter, with the Ex-Dividend Dates in early February, May, August, and November. Not all of these companies will meet the strict standards of every investor, but they may be appropriate for portfolio diversification. Potential investors should do more research before committing funds.

Coming Up

This article is part of my regular schedule of submissions; the following are expected in the next month or so:

• Overdue Dividend Increases: June 13. Date is aimed at preceding David Van Knapp's “Dividends in Danger?” series by a couple of days. Three companies from my May 26 article will be added to the “overdue” list since they declared the same payout for a fifth straight quarter.
• Companies Expected to Increase Dividends: June 26
• Dividend Champions Update: June 30. The spreadsheet and PDF will be updated after the market close and posted in their usual location (see first line of this article).
• Dividend Champions: Smackdown XV: July 1

Note that the dates are when I am likely to submit the articles; SA may publish them on a slightly delayed basis. I may also submit one or two other articles during the month, depending on reader interest. Please feel free to list questions or suggestions in the Comment section below.

Disclosure: I am long MDT, DUK, R.

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