Friday brought news of an increase in employment; major markets were up regarding the announcement, and some people began to feel more upbeat about our financial situation. While positive employment news is always a good thing, one important thing to keep in mind is that this increase in employment is due to temporary workers being hired for the census, and once the census is over all of these jobs will disappear. This doesn’t have any effect on the dividend increases for this week, but we can hope that companies will be looking to a brighter future and we may see a flood of increases over the next few weeks.

Brinker (EAT), operator of over 1,700 ‘casual dining’ restaurants including 1,500 Chilli’s, has increases its quarterly dividend 27% to $0.14 per share, resulting in a yield of 2.95%. Todd Shipyards (TOD), a shipyard with dry dock facilities in Pacific Northwest, has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.075 per share, generating a fresh yield of 1.83%. Wayne Savings (WAYN), a holding company for two banks in Ohio, has increased its dividend 20% to $0.06 per share, producing a yield of 2.84%. Oxford industries (OXM), manufacturer of branded and private label clothing, has increases its quarterly dividend 22% to $0.11 per share, giving a fresh yield of 2.16%.

Two dividend achievers have been in the dividend increases news today, AT&T (T), a well-known mobile communications provider, has announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share, resulting in an attractive yield of 6.50%. McCormick & Company (MKC), a food manufacturer, has declared a dividend of $0.26 per share giving a yield of 2.70%.

Final Thoughts

Again, another slow week for dividend increases. There is one increase that should catch everyone’s eye – AT&T offering a 6.50% yield. AT&T is a strong and reputable company – such a company would usually offer a yield much less than 6.50%, perhaps even lower than 5%. Personally I feel this is an opportunity that can’t be missed.

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