Earnings season is in full swing, with many of the biggest companies around reporting results over the past week. Stellar numbers from standout companies such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have grabbed the financial headlines, but on the dividend stock front, there’s also been plenty of big news that’s made investors smile. We saw a bevy of big companies increasing payouts to shareholders, and that’s a continuation of the trend we’ve seen so far through the first six months of the year.
According a recent post in BusinessWeek, U.S. listed common stocks increased their dividend payments to $30.2 billion in the first half of 2011. That number already surpasses all of 2010’s dividend increases, which came out to $26.5 billion. These numbers translate into an 11.1% dividend increase through the first half of 2011 versus last year. This week, the dividend parade continued with the following 12 companies increasing payouts.
Dividend Stock #1 – Altera Corp.
Semiconductor maker Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR), which specializes in programmable logic devices, reported second-quarter net income that beat analyst expectations. The company also gave Wall Street some excellent guidance going forward, saying it expects sales to rise 2% to 6% sequentially, which means it is expecting $559.4 million to $581.3 million in revenue. Analysts were expecting that number to be just $548.9 million.
Altera saw the results as a green light to reprogram its quarterly dividend payment by 2 cents per share to 8 cents per share. The new dividend will be paid Sept. 1, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 10.
Dividend Stock #2 – Aptar Group
Aptar Group (NYSE: ATR) is a supplier of dispensing systems for the fragrance/cosmetic, personal care, pharmaceutical, household and food/beverage markets. The company dispensed a quarterly dividend increase to shareholders of 22%, upping its payout to 22 cents per share. The new dividend is payable Aug. 23, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 2.
Aptar also said that it repurchased 600,000 shares of common stock for approximately $31.2 million, leaving approximately 900,000 shares authorized for repurchase at the end of the second quarter. The company’s board also approved the repurchase of an additional 4 million shares.
Dividend Stock #3 – Carbo Ceramics
The biggest supplier of ceramic proppant for fracturing oil and gas wells, Carbo Ceramics (NYSE: CRR) blasted out a quarterly dividend increase of 20% to 24 cents per share. The latest increase marks the 11th consecutive year the company has increased its dividend to shareholders. The new payout will be made on Aug. 15, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 1.
Separately, research firm Dahlman Rose initiated coverage on the fracking giant with a “buy” rating.
Dividend Stock #4 – Gannett Co.
The largest newspaper chain in the United States is Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), publishers of the ubiquitous USA Today. This week, the company reported headline news of a 100% increase in its quarterly dividend, upping its payout to 8 cents per share from the previous 4 cents per share. The dividend is payable on Oct. 2, to shareholders of record on Sept. 7.
The increased payout came even as Gannett’s quarterly profit and revenue fell. The company said ad revenue at its newspapers dropped 6.5% to $646.9 million as retail, automotive and national advertisers pulled back on their spending. The news was read as a clear sign that U.S. newspapers have yet to recover from an advertising slump that’s persisted now for years.
Dividend Stock #5 – Huntington Bancshares
Regional bank Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) decided to dish out more of its deposits to shareholders this week, as the company’s board approved a new dividend of 4 cents per share. That’s a sizeable jump from the current payout of just 1 cent per share. The new dividend is payable Oct. 3, to shareholders of record on Sept. 19.
News of the dividend increase came along with a surge in second-quarter net income, as the bank was able to set aside less money to cover potential loan losses. Lower costs also helped offset lower income from interest, fees and other charges.
Dividend Stock #6 – Kinder Morgan
Energy pipeline giant Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) turned up the gas on its second-quarter dividend to 30 cents per share from 29 cents per share. The new payout will be made on Aug. 15, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 1.
KMI also owns the general partner interest in one of the largest publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP). That company also increased its quarterly cash distribution per common unit to $1.15. The new distribution is payable on Aug. 12, to unitholders of record as of Aug. 1. The distribution represents a 6% increase over the second quarter 2010 cash distribution per unit of $1.09. KMP has increased its distribution six consecutive quarters, and a remarkable 41 times since February 1997.
Dividend Stock #7 – Magellan Midstream Partners
The publicly traded partnership formed to own, operate and acquire a diverse portfolio of energy assets, Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: MMP) is delivering for its unitholders. The company primarily transports, stores and distributes refined petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel fuel.
This quarter the company fueled up a quarterly cash distribution of 78.5 cents per unit. That distribution is 7% higher than the second-quarter 2010 distribution of 73.25 cents per unit. The new distribution will be paid Aug. 12, to unitholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 4.
Dividend Stock #8 – Markwest Energy Partners L.P.
Another big natural gas limited partnership energizing shareholder’s portfolios is Markwest Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: MWE). The company announced a new cash distribution of 70 cents per common unit for the second quarter of 2011, a 6 cent per common unit increase, or 9.4%, over the second quarter 2010 distribution. The new quarterly distribution is payable Aug. 12 to unitholders of record on Aug. 1.
Dividend Stock #9 – Monro Muffler Brake
Auto repair chain Monro Muffler Brake (NASDAQ: MNRO) tapped the brakes on its forecast for the second-quarter and full-year profit, as it announced that sales growth was slowing. The company did raise its full-year profit outlook to $1.65-$1.77 per share from its earlier forecast of $1.61-$1.75 a share, and reaffirmed its sales view of $690 million to $705 million. However, analysts are expecting earnings of $1.73 a share on sales of $707.5 million.
Along with the adjusted forecast, Monro has indicated its intention to pay a regular quarterly cash dividend of 9 cents per share during the remainder of fiscal 2012, which is an increase of 12.5% from the quarterly dividends paid in fiscal 2011. The company’s second quarter dividend is payable on Sept. 16, to shareholders of record on Sept. 6.
Dividend Stock #10 – Nu Skin Enterprises
Skin care and nutritional supplement company Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE: NUS) exfoliated its balance sheet and came up with a bit more of its cash to shareholders. The company announced its new quarterly dividend of 16 cents per share, an increase of about 19% over its prior dividend of 13.5 cents. The new dividend rate will begin in the third quarter, and will be payable on Sept. 14, to shareholders of record as of Aug. 26.
Dividend Stock #11 – Oneok Partners L.P.
Oneok Partners L.P. (NYSE: OKS), a master-limited partnership in the natural gas pipeline business, increased its payout pipeline to shareholders this week. The new distribution of 58.5 cents per unit from 57.5 cents per unit on a post-split basis is effective for the second quarter 2011, resulting in an annualized post-split cash distribution of $2.34 per unit. The distribution is payable Aug. 12, to unitholders of record as of Aug. 1.
John W. Gibson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Oneok, said, “This distribution increase is twice what was originally factored into our 2011 financial guidance, based on the continued strong performance at the partnership.”
Dividend Stock #12 – Ryder System
Commercial transportation, logistics and supply chain management solutions company Ryder System (NYSE: R) declared a quarterly cash dividend of 29 cents per share, which will be paid on Sept. 16, to shareholders of record on Aug. 22. The dividend represents a 2-cent-per-share increase from the 27 cents per cash Ryder had been paying quarterly since September 2010. The latest dividend is Ryder’s 140th consecutive quarterly cash payout to shareholders, which translates into 35 years of uninterrupted dividend payments. That’s a great example of sound fiscal logistics.
At the time of publication, Jim Woods held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
