Dividend Stocks: 15 Notable Increases in 2014

Investors had a banner year in 2013 - especially those holding dividend stocks.

For all of 2013, dividend increases totaled a hefty $56.7 billion. That's up from $50.2 billion in 2011.

Among the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, 14 dividend-paying stocks boosted their payouts in 2013: AT&T Inc. (NTSE: T), The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), United Tech. Corp. (NYSE: UTX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V).

Yet company payout ratios - dividends as a percentage of net income - are still low. Companies are currently shelling out just 36% of what they bring in compared to the historic average of 52%.

That means investors should expect 2014 to be another good year to buy dividend-paying stocks.

Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, told Barron's he expects Q1 "to be a very busy, positive period for dividends," with 2014 setting another record for dividend payments.

Following are the most notable dividend increases of 2014 to date.

15 Dividend-Paying Stocks That Just Hiked Their Payouts

Bank of the Ozarks Inc. (Nasdaq: OZRK) increased its quarterly payout 4.8% to $0.22 a share, up from $0.22. Shares yield 1.48%.

BP Prudhome Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE: BPT) upped its quarterly dividend 16.6% to $2.52. Shares yield 11.57%.

BreitBurn Energy Partners LP (Nasdaq: BBEP) boosted its quarterly dividend 1% to $0.164 a share. Shares of the oil and gas exploration company limited partnership yield 9.55%.

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Cal-Main Foods Inc. (Nasdaq: CALM) raised its quarterly dividend 430% to $0.36 a share from $0.06. The producer of specialty and organic egg products' stock yields 1.19%.

DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR) increased its quarterly dividend 14.8% to $0.15 a share. Shares yield 4%.

Dorchester Minerals LP (NYSE: DMLP) boosted its quarterly dividend 2.9% to $0.46 per share. The stock yields 6.76%.

Fly Leasing Ltd. (NYSE: FLY) increased its quarterly dividend by a penny to $0.16 a share. Shares of the Irish company yield 6.15%.

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) raised its quarterly payout to $0.12 a share from $0.10 for a fresh 3.1% yield. Ford, which avoided a federally designed bankruptcy and bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, resumed dividends in 2011 at a nickel a share and has steadily been boosting payouts since.

FT Energy Inc. & Growth Fund (NYSE: FEN) announced a new quarterly dividend rate of $0.53 a share. Shares sport a yield just shy of 7%.

Lindsay Corp. (NYSE: LNN) increased its quarterly dividend 100% to $0.26 a share, up from $0.13.

Penny Mac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) upped its quarterly dividend 3.5%, or 2 cents, to $0.59 a share, for a 10% yield.

Physician Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC) hiked its quarterly dividend 25% to $0. 22 a share, up from $0.18. Shared of this self-managed healthcare real estate company yield a healthy 7%.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA) boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.61 a share. The 2.5% increase gives shares a near 5% yield.

Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS) sweetened its quarterly dividend 28% to $0.68 a share, up from $0.58. Shares yield 4%.

Spectra Energy Inc. (NYSE: SE) raised its quarterly dividend 9.8% to $0.33 a share, up from $0.30. The stock boasts a yield of 3.8%.

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