Readers of the Motley Fool Income Investor
newsletter service can appreciate that kind of thinking. Let's take a
closer look at some of the companies that inched their payouts higher
this past week.
We can start with Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR).
Earnings took a hit in its latest quarter, but healthy free cash flow
-- $2.6 billion generated over the past year alone -- is giving Emerson
plenty of wiggle room to increase its quarterly distributions by a
half-penny to $0.335 a share.
Aaron's (NYSE: AAN)
leases out recliners, but it's not stretching out for a snooze. The
furniture-rental chain is jacking up its quarterly dividend by 6% to
$0.018 a share. It's a tiny sum, I know. Aaron's is yielding just 0.3%
at the moment. However, the company has boosted its rate for five
consecutive years.
Fashion-savvy Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL)
also knows how to make its dividend checks look more stylish. The
premium-apparel trendsetter is doubling its quarterly disbursements to
$0.10 a share.
Finally, we have Montpelier Re (NYSE: MRH) on the move. The insurer's new payout rate of $0.09 a share every three months is a 20% improvement.
Some of these moves may not seem like much, but consider the companies going the other way. El Paso (NYSE: EP) and Bank Mutual (Nasdaq: BKMU) were among those cutting their dividends.
Income Investor
subscribers always have their eyes fixed on the companies that send
more and more money to their investors. The newsletter service singles
out companies that are committed to growing their distributions with
market-thumping results.
© 2009 UCLICK, L.L.C.
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