31 Companies Expected to Boost Dividends in the Next 60 Days - 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.

New Format Modified

This is the third article in the new twice-monthly format, which extended the forward look to a period of about eight weeks. The previous article appeared on April 26^th and can be found here.

Of the companies mentioned in that article, 19 have announced dividend increases, including such familiar names as ExxonMobil (XOM),Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), PepsiCo (PEP), and International Business Machines (IBM). The new format leads to some carry-over in the listings, but is designed to help avoid having companies failing to be mentioned simply because they fall in between monthly articles. But there were still a few companies that announced increases as much as two months before the next Ex-Dividend Date, so I'm extending the “forward look” to 60 days and, if necessary, could aim for nine or even ten weeks. 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.	4/29		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Mine Safety Appliances	MSA	39	39.68	2.52	0.2500	4.17	5/20/10
NACCO Industries	NC	25	105.23	1.99	0.5225	0.97	5/27/10
National Fuel Gas	NFG	40	73.30	1.88	0.3450	2.99	6/28/10
Medtronic Inc.	MDT	33	41.75	2.16	0.2250	9.76	7/7/10

Dividend Contenders (10-24 years):

		No.	4/29		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Southside Bancshares	SBSI	16	21.75	3.13	0.1700	5.00	5/25/10
Community Bank System	CBU	17	25.02	3.84	0.2400	9.09	6/11/10
First Financial Corp.	THFF	22	32.16	2.86	0.4600	2.22	6/11/10
Universal Health Realty Trust	UHT	22	43.11	5.61	0.6050	0.83	6/14/10
Republic Bancorp KY	RBCAB.PK	12	21.78	2.63	0.1430	8.33	6/16/10
SEI Investments Company	SEIC	18	22.34	0.90	0.1000	11.11	6/17/10
John Wiley & Sons Inc.	JW.A	17	50.93	1.26	0.1600	14.29	7/2/10

Dividend Challengers (5-9 years):

		No.	4/29		Qtrly	LY%	LY
Company	Symbol	Yrs	Price	Yield	Rate	Inc.	Ex-Div
Assurant Inc.	AIZ	7	39.70	1.61	0.1600	6.67	5/20/10
Analog Devices Inc.	ADI	8	40.31	2.18	0.2200	10.00	5/26/10
Knight Transportation Inc.	KNX	7	18.01	1.33	0.0600	20.00	6/2/10
Suncor Energy Inc.	SU	5	46.04	0.86	0.0990	6.45	6/2/10
Daktronics Inc.	DAKT	6	10.72	0.93	0.1000	5.26	6/10/10
W.R. Berkley Corp.	WRB	9	32.61	0.86	0.0700	16.67	6/10/10
Pharmaceutical Product Dev.	PPDI	6	30.85	1.94	0.1500	5.71	6/11/10
FedEx Corp.	FDX	9	95.67	0.50	0.1200	9.09	6/15/10
Flowers Foods	FLO	9	30.56	2.62	0.2000	14.29	6/16/10
Greif Inc. A	GEF	7	62.10	2.71	0.4200	10.53	6/16/10
Communications Systems	JCS	8	15.82	3.79	0.1500	7.14	6/17/10
Tiffany & Company	TIF	8	69.44	1.44	0.2500	25.00	6/17/10
H.J.Heinz Co.	HNZ	6	51.23	3.51	0.4500	7.14	6/22/10
Safeway Inc.	SWY	6	24.31	1.97	0.1200	20.00	6/22/10
Xcel Energy	XEL	7	24.33	4.15	0.2525	3.06	6/22/10
Portland General Electric Co.	POR	5	24.96	4.17	0.2600	1.96	6/23/10
National Healthcare Corp.	NHC	7	46.46	2.41	0.2800	7.69	6/28/10
Darden Restaurants	DRI	6	46.97	2.73	0.3200	28.00	7/7/10
General Mills	GIS	7	38.58	2.90	0.2800	14.29	7/8/10
MSC Industrial Direct Co.	MSM	8	71.59	1.23	0.2200	10.00	7/9/10

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.) 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: May 13. Date is aimed at preceding David Van Knapp's “Dividends in Danger?” series by a couple of days. From my April 13 article, five of the 28 “overdue” companies raised their dividends and one – Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) – cut its payout. Three companies from my April 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: May 25

Dividend Champions Update: May 31. 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 XIV: June 1

Companies Expected to Increase Dividends: June 10

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 XOM, JNJ, PEP, NFG, MDT.

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