39 Companies Expected to Raise Their Dividends in February - Seeking Alpha

39 Companies Expected to Raise Their Dividends in February - Seeking Alpha

In compiling the Dividend Champions list 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. Based on last year's announcements, I'm expecting the following companies to announce dividend increases in the month of February:

Dividend Champions (25 or more years):

		No.	12/31		Qtrly	%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
3M Company	MMM	52	86.30	2.43	0.5250	2.94	2/17/10
Archer Daniels Midland	ADM	35	30.08	1.99	0.1500	7.14	2/16/10
Bemis Company	BMS	27	32.66	2.82	0.2300	2.22	2/11/10
Black Hills Corp.	BKH	40	30.00	4.80	0.3600	1.41	2/10/10
California Water Service	CWT	43	37.27	3.19	0.2975	0.85	2/8/10
Consolidated Edison	ED	36	49.57	4.80	0.5950	0.85	2/15/10
Diebold Inc.	DBD	57	32.05	3.37	0.2700	3.85	2/18/10
Energen Corp.	EGN	28	48.26	1.08	0.1300	4.00	2/10/10
Pitney Bowes Inc.	PBI	28	24.18	6.04	0.3650	1.39	2/17/10
Sherwin-Williams Co.	SHW	32	83.75	1.72	0.3600	1.41	2/24/10
Sigma-Aldrich Corp.	SIAL	34	66.56	0.96	0.1600	10.34	2/25/10
SJW Corp.	SJW	43	26.47	2.57	0.1700	3.03	2/4/10

Dividend Contenders (10-24 years):

		No.	12/31		Qtrly	%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Avon Products Inc.	AVP	21	29.06	3.03	0.2200	4.76	2/19/10
HCP Inc.	HCP	24	36.79	5.06	0.4650	1.09	2/9/10
Jack Henry & Associates	JKHY	18	29.15	1.30	0.0950	11.76	2/22/10
Meredith Corp.	MDP	17	34.65	2.66	0.2300	2.22	2/24/10
NextEra Energy	NEE	16	51.99	3.85	0.5000	5.82	2/24/10
Northeast Utilities	NU	12	31.88	3.22	0.2563	7.89	2/25/10
Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.	NUS	10	30.26	1.65	0.1250	8.70	2/24/10
Ross Stores Inc.	ROST	16	63.25	1.01	0.1600	45.45	2/17/10
Teva Pharmaceutical	TEVA	11	52.13	1.43	0.1860	17.72	2/19/10
Unisource Energy Corp.	UNS	11	35.84	4.35	0.3900	34.48	2/19/10
United Technologies	UTX	16	78.72	2.16	0.4250	10.39	2/17/10
Westamerica Bancorp	WABC	19	55.47	2.60	0.3600	2.86	2/4/10

Dividend Challengers (5-9 years):

		No.	12/31		Qtrly	%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
AGL Resources	AGL	8	35.85	4.91	0.4400	2.33	2/17/10
Avista Corp.	AVA	8	22.52	4.44	0.2500	19.05	2/23/10
CenterPoint Energy	CNP	5	15.72	4.96	0.1950	2.63	2/11/10
Compass Minerals Int'l	CMP	7	89.27	1.75	0.3900	9.86	2/25/10
Energy Transfer Equity LP	ETE	5	39.07	5.53	0.5400	0.93	2/4/10
Heritage Financial Group	HBOS	6	12.42	2.90	0.0900	12.50	2/3/10
JB Hunt Transport	JBHT	7	40.81	1.18	0.1200	9.09	2/10/10
L-3 Communications	LLL	7	70.49	2.27	0.4000	14.29	2/25/10
Landmark Bancorp Inc.	LARK	9	16.92	4.49	0.1900	5.00	2/22/10
National Instruments	NATI	8	37.64	1.38	0.1300	8.33	2/4/10
National Interstate Corp.	NATL	6	21.41	1.49	0.0800	14.29	2/25/10
Pall Corp.	PLL	6	49.58	1.29	0.1600	10.34	2/5/10
Robert Half International	RHI	7	30.60	1.70	0.1300	8.33	2/23/10
Rollins Inc.	ROL	8	19.75	1.22	0.0600	28.57	2/8/10
Wisconsin Energy	WEC	7	58.86	2.72	0.4000	18.52	2/10/10

Notably, next month's expected increases include the company with the longest current streak (Diebold), the next company poised to graduate from Contender to Champions status (HCP Inc.), and the next company likely to graduate from Challenger to Contender status (Landmark Bancorp). Not all of these companies will meet the strict standards of some investors, but they may be appropriate for portfolio diversification. As always, potential investors should do more research before committing funds.

Disclosure: I am long MMM, BMS, AVP, NEE, UTX.