Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO), Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) & Five Stocks That Have Doubled Their Dividends

Dividends have given cash-starved investors the income they need as well as some security from the prospects of a downturn in the stock market. Those positive characteristics have attracted more investors than ever to stocks that regularly pay out dividends to their shareholders.

One of the most encouraging signs of a healthy stock market has been how many stocks have been able to increase their dividends substantially. In just the past year, several stocks have doubled their dividend payouts. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Mosaic Co (NYSE:MOS) : quarterly dividend up 400% in the past year
This fertilizer company has actually made two dividend increases in the past year, raising its quarterly dividend from $0.05 per share to $0.125 last May and then to $0.25 in July. Over the past several years, Mosaic has benefited from strong conditions in the farming industry generally, although more recently, challenges from more favorably priced nitrogen-based fertilizers has held back its growth somewhat. Yet with its dividend boosts over the past year, Mosaic has signaled that it sees a new upturn for its potash and phosphate fertilizer production, and shares have done better in response.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) : up 113%
Networking giant Cisco has also been a serial dividend raiser, with increases last October and just this month boosting its quarterly per-share payout from $0.08 to $0.17. Like many big tech stocks, Cisco has had its leadership challenged by competitors focusing on newer technologies, and the company has struggled to defend its turf and continue to grow. But with billions of dollars in free cash flow, Cisco has plenty of income from its core businesses to pay more to shareholders, and with its yield above 3%, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) now entices a new group of income-seeking investors to support its stock.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) : up 100%
Southwest doubled its dividend last June, but dividend investors shouldn’t get too excited about it. The move only raised Southwest’s puny payout by half a penny, and the dividend yield on the stock is just 0.3%. Still, with other major airlines being too stingy to pay dividends at all, even Southwest’s token payout reveals its long history of stable profitability even in the face of massive bankruptcies and reorganizations elsewhere in the industry.