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.
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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