Sometimes a cash rich company will declare a special one-time dividend to eliminate surplus cash. These special dividends are generally ignored when evaluating a company's dividend growth performance. An example, of this would be Microsoft's (MSFT) special $3.00/share dividend in 2005. Most analysts in-the-know exclude the $3.00/share special dividend use the $0.32/share regular dividend when calculating a dividend growth rate for Microsoft.

Special dividends are nice, but the most special dividend is one that increases each year. Here are several companies that recently raised their cash dividends:

• Utah Medical Products (UTMD) Ups Qtr. Dividend by 4.5% to $0.23/Share (3.55%)
• Home Properties (HME) Raises Qtr. Dividend 1.5% to $0.67/Share (6.53%)
  
• Vornado Realty (VNO) Raises Qtr. Dividend 5.3% $0.95/Share (5.06%)
• Aqua America (WTR) Boosts Qtr. Dividiend 8% to $0.135/Share (2.99%)
• Royal Gold (RGLD) Raises Qtr. Dividend 14% to $0.08/Share (0.89%)
• Aaron Rents (RNT) Increases Qtr. Dividend 6.3% to $0.017/Share (0.28%)
• Courier Corp. (CRRC) Boosts Qtr. Dividend 5% to $0.21/Share (5.04%)