Recently Announced Dividend Raises December 2016

Invest in high quality dividend paying companies that can manage their cash flow and payout ratio and be rewarded with constant dividend increases. A dividend increase is something every dividend growth investor can get excited about.

Who wouldn’t love earning a little more from an investment without having to add additional capital? I enjoy highlighting these dividend raises every now and then. Let’s run down the list and see if any of these recent dividend raisers are in your portfolio.

First up, electric utility Edison International (NYSE:EIX) just announced a 13% dividend increase from the current annual dividend rate of $1.92.

Next is a company that can be found in several dividend growth portfolios, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA). MA will be boosting its dividend by $0.03, which may not sound like a lot, but represents an impressive 16% increase to $0.22 a share, from the current $0.19 a share.

Weight loss meal provider Medifast Inc (NYSE:MED) just announced a monster 28% dividend increase, raising its quarterly payout from $0.25 to $0.32.

Residential REIT Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc (NYSE:MAA) also recently announced a generous bump in their distribution, of 6.1%, declaring a new quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, up from the current $0.82 a share.

In the insurance space we have Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ:ERIE) giving shareholders a 7.2% bump in dividends, increasing their quarterly payment to $0.7825 per share from the old rate of $0.73 per share.

Here’s one I never heard of but have indulged on their products: J & J Snack Foods Corp (NASDAQ:JJSF). Makers of the Super Pretzel, ICEE and more is raising their dividend by 7.7% to $0.42 per share from the prior dividend of $0.39.

Medical appliance manufacture Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) is also giving investors something to cheer about as it raised its dividend by 11.8%, giving shareholders a quarterly dividend of $0.425 per share, up from the prior dividend of $0.38.

Popular REIT W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) also recently announced a modest distribution raise of 0.5%. Of course the current yield of 6.7% more than makes up for the token quarterly raise to $0.99 per share from the prior dividend of $0.985.

Finally, diversified REIT Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE:DEI) just boosted its payout by 4.5%, offering a current yield of 2.4%, raising its quarterly dividend to $0.23 a share from $0.22 a share.

Getting a dividend raise is always a welcome gesture. The above companies are just some the most recent to declare dividend increases during the first week of December. As you can see they represent various sectors and most raised their respective dividends by a healthy amount. Are any of the companies mentioned in your portfolio? Please let me know below.

Disclosure: Long NONE

Note: This article is written by DivHut. Check out more of the site’s dividend investing content at divhut.com.