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), Read Complete Article

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Qualified dividends are regular dividends that meet certain requirements (as detailed below) and are then granted a lower capital gains tax rate.

Requirements

For a dividend to be classed as a qualified dividend it must conform to the following requirements:

• Be paid between January 1^st 2003 and December 31^st 2010
• Be paid by a US corporation
• The stock must have been held by the investor for 61 days.

To expand on point two, the stock must be paid by a US corporation. This requirement also includes companies that are incorporated under the Read Complete Article

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As we reach the end of March it seems a wise idea to reflect on the difference in dividend increases between February and March. March has provided little rejoice for dividend investors, with only the odd dividend achiever or aristocrat appearing to make their Read Complete Article

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The term ‘Dividend Achievers’ is one that you will see on any website devoted to building passive income through dividend investing, but you might not fully understand what one is. Many big firms are part of this somewhat exclusive group, including some big names in Read Complete Article

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Last week saw only a few dividend increases, and none of them provided a yield high enough to be attractive most dividend investors. This week has seen a much stronger set of increases, with one even topping 10% yield.

Birner Dental (BDMS), a provider of business services to the dental industry, has increased its dividend 17% to $0.20 per share. This generates a new yield of 4.92% – a rate which most dividend investors will consider worth their time. Warwick Valley Telephone Co. (WWVY), a communications provider to various areas, has increased its quarterly dividend 9.1% to $0.24 per share. This produces a yield even more Read Complete Article

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Just five stocks have increased their dividends this week adding to the slowdown of reported increases since February. There doesn’t appear to be any trend in the increases this week, and no dividend achievers or aristocrats raised their dividends.

Myers Industries (MYE), a manufacturer of polymer products for various markets, has increased its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.065 per share. The new yield based on this increase is 2.52%. NYMAGIC (NYM), an insurance holding company which specializes in marine underwriting, has raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 per share, generating a new yield of 2.23%. Applied Materials (AMAT), Read Complete Article

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The first week of March hasn’t brought as many dividend increases as we’ve seen in recent weeks but any increases are welcome news to income investors in this day and age. Wal-Mart is the highest profile company raising its dividend this week, and several notable gas companies have also increased their dividends.

General Shares

Southwest Gas Corp. (SWX), a supplier of natural gas to Arizona, Nevada and California, has increased its dividend 5.3% to $0.25 per share. This gives a new yield of 3.38%. The Andersons (ANDE), agriculture and transportation operators, has increased its quarterly dividend 3% to $0.09, leaving their new yield at a measly 1.08%. Hanover Insurance (THG), a provider of insurance and other financial products, has raised its dividend a generous 33%, giving a payout of $0.25 and a new yield of 2.34%. Similarly to Hanover Insurance, Fred’s (FRED) has increased its dividend 33% giving a new payout of $0.04 a share, and a yield of 1.50% based on this payout.
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Investing in dividend stocks is a great way to make a passive income, but how does one choose which stocks to invest in? Half the battle is in knowing what to look for, and we’ll try to cover the basics of that here.

Yield

If you’re investing in dividend paying stocks, the first thing you are going to look at when considering a particular company’s stock is its dividend yield. Annual yield can be calculated by taking the annual dividend (for example, if the dividend is paid quarterly you multiply it by four to get your annual dividend) then divide it by the current share price. Read the rest of this entry →

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This week has seen another stunning amount of dividend increases for large US companies with 18 companies reporting increases. US economic data has suggested that the economy is starting to grow at a faster pace, and it seems that, maybe, these companies are looking towards a better year and can afford to increase their dividends to Read Complete Article

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We are only two-thirds of the way through February, and there has already been a large amount of dividend increases. In particular, over twenty notable companies raised their dividends in the second week of February alone, bringing the total number of dividend-raisers up to around 30 for the first three weeks of February. In the same period last year, the majority of companies Read Complete Article

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