What a week. Austerity measures in Greece sent major worldwide indices tumbling, couple that with some sort of malfunction on the trading of a couple of shares, and it sent the Dow Jones down an unbelievable 9%. The election in the UK resulted in a hung parliament meaning no party actually won (although a coalition has now been formed) adding to further uncertainty in the markets. If you had bought shares on Friday, you would now be a happy bunny. Of course, dividend investing has little to do with the short term fluctuations in the markets so these events haven’t had much, if any, effect on future yields for such investors. The only place you might have gained is being able to push a few extra basis points out of those yields from the low markets last week.

Franklin Electric (FELE), designer and manufacturer of fuel pump systems, has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.13 per share. This produces a yield of 1.54%.Fifth Street Finance (FSC), a ‘business angel’ lending to small companies, has increased its dividend 6.7% to $0.32 per share. This takes the yield to 10.05%. Textainer Group (TGH), a group dealing with marine cargo containers cross-continent, has increased its dividend to $0.24 per share. This produces a fresh yield of 4.01%.

TECO Energy (TE), west central Florida energy supplier, has increased its dividend to $0.205 giving a new yield of 5.18%. Microchip (MCHP), unsurprisingly a supplier of micro-controllers and other small electronics components to mass market industries, has increased its dividend to $0.432 per share. This gives a yield of 4.90%. Cognex Corp. (CGNX), machine vision products manufacturer, has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.125 per share. This generates a new yield of 2.01%. Biovail Corp. (BVF), specialists in drugs testing and related activities, has increased its dividend to $0.095 per share. This produces a new yield of 2.39%.

Union Pacific Corp. (UNP), US railroad operator, has increased its dividend 22% to $0.33 per share. This generates a new yield of 1.83%. Occidental Petroleum (OXY), a very large oil company operating in the US, has increased its quarterly dividend 15% to $0.38 per share. This gives a new yield of 1.89%. Finally, Public Storage (PSA), an investor in self-storage facilities and warehouses, has increased its dividend to $0.80 per share. This generates a fresh yield of 2.06%.

Dividend Achievers

Cardinal Health (CAH), a distributor of medical suppliers, has increased its quarterly dividend 11% to $0.195 per share. This gives a new yield of 2.26% and it is the 14^th consecutive year that Cardinal Health has increased its dividend, putting them into the Dividend Achievers category. RLI Corp. (RLI), a specialized insurance provider, has increased its dividend to $0.29 per share. This produces a yield of 2.06% and is the 35^th year in a row that RLI Corp. has increased its dividend; this catapults them into the Dividend Achievers category.

Final Thoughts

Fifth Street Finance offering a 10.05% yield is quite possibly the highest yield we’ve had in this series of weekly dividend increases, and likely that it is the only double-digit yield we’ve seen. From taking a look at what the company does, they seem to be a relatively risky business, but, as we exit recession, now is the time to be investing in those start-ups with large amounts of potential so there could be substantial profits there for years to come.

Nothing has really happened from the large companies this week, apart from the usual high-profile energy company dividend increases which may be worth looking into; TECO Energy has offered a yield above 5% which most passive income investors will find attractive.

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