15 Companies Increasing Dividends Last Week

Last week was marked by wild sell-offs and big rallies in the equity markets. There was even wilder action in the commodities markets, as oil, gold and particularly silver, suffered big bouts of selling. Yet amid all of the volatile action last week, we continued to see numerous big-name companies reporting stellar earnings. We also saw many bellwether firms increasing their dividend payouts.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP): Among the highest-profile companies pouring out higher payouts was the beverage giant. The company’s board of directors authorized a 7% increase in its annual dividend to $2.06 per share compared to the prior payout of $1.92. The next quarterly dividend payout of 51.5 cents per share will reflect the new payment to shareholders. That payment will be made on June 30, to shareholders of record on June 3. The increase comes one week after Pepsi reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter profits of $1.14 billion.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG): Another iconic company boosting the horsepower on its dividend was the motorcycle maker. The company said it approved an increase in its second-quarter cash dividend to 12.5 cents per share, up from the current 10-cent payout. The new dividend will be paid on June 17, to shareholders of record on June 2. In April, Harley-Davidson reported that profits more than tripled in the first quarter, a much smoother Q1 ride than Wall Street was anticipating.

CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS): The television and entertainment giant was yet another iconic company upping its payout last week. The broadcaster’s first-quarter earnings easily bested expectations, as CBS earned 29 cents per share on $3.51 billion in revenue, compared with a loss of 4 cents per share on $3.53 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company responded by doubling its quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share from 5 cents. The move restores part of what shareholders lost when the company cut its dividend two years ago from 27 cents per share. The new payout will be made on July 1, to shareholders of record as of June 10.

Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH): The health care services firm provides tools that help increase efficiency and reduce costs in the industry. Profits from these cost-cutting services allowed Cardinal to boost its dividend by a healthy 10% to 21.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on July 15, to shareholders of record on July 1.

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK): The diversified utility company turned up the power on its quarterly dividend, raising its payout by 4.6% to 34.5 cents per share. The new dividend is payable July 5, to shareholders of record as of June 15.