Medtronic, Inc. (
MDT) manufactures and sells device-based medical therapies worldwide. June 21st the company increased its quarterly dividend 7.2% to $0.26 per share. MDT's dividend has more than doubled over the past five years, and this announcement marks the company's 35th consecutive year of increased dividend payments. The dividend is payable on July 27, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 6, 2012. The yield based on the new payout is 2.8%.
Below are several other companies increasing their cash dividends during the last week:
Realty Income Corporation (
O) is an equity real estate investment trust that owned a diversified portfolio of retail properties. June 21st the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.146125 per share. The dividend is payable on July 16, 2012 to shareholders of record as of July 2, 2012. This is the 66th dividend increase, and the 59th consecutive quarterly increase, since Realty Income went public in 1994. The yield based on the new payout is 4.4%.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (
BBY) operates as a retailer of consumer electronics, computing and mobile phone products, entertainment products, appliances, and related services. June 21st the company increased its quarterly dividend 6% to $0.17 cents per common share. The dividend is payable October 2, 2012 to shareholders of record as of September 11, 2012. The yield based on the new payout is 3.5%.
Southern Michigan Bancorp, Inc. (
SOMC) operates as the bank holding company for Southern Michigan Bank & Trust, which provides commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, institutions, and government agencies. June 20th the company increased its quarterly dividend 28.7% to $0.09 per share. The dividend is payable July 20, 2012 to shareholders of record as of July 6, 2012. The yield based on the new payout is 2.5%.
Walgreen Co. (
WAG) operates a chain of drugstores in the United States. June 19th the company increased is quarterly dividend 22.2% to $0.27 cents per share. The dividend is payable Sept. 12, 2012, to shareholders of record Aug. 17, 2012. The increase raises the annual dividend rate $1.10 per share. The yield based on the new payout is 3.6%.
Kohlberg Capital Corporation (
KCAP) is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in mid market, buyourts, and mezzanine investments. June 18th the company increased its quarterly dividend 33% to $0.24 per share. The dividend is payable on July 27, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business as of July 6, 2012. The yield based on the new payout is 14.3%.
Selecting stocks with increasing dividends is critical for an income growth strategy. The above list contains stocks that recently raised their dividends; it is not a list of recommend buys. As always, due diligence should be performed before buying or selling any stock. For a list of stocks with a long string of consecutive cash dividend increases,
see this list.
Full Disclosure: Long MDT, O. See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.