Cisco Systems announced yesterday that the company will initiate a quarterly dividend payment of $.06 per share beginning in April.
Patterson Companies announced today that the company will raise their quarterly dividend by 20% to $.12 per share and increase their stock repurchase program.
St. Jude Medical announced today that the medical device company will start paying a dividend in April of $.21 per share.
Comcast announced today that the company is raising their quarterly dividend by 19% and accelerating their stock repurchases for 2011.
The move to double their dividend will increase the current dividend yield on Polo Ralph Lauren stock to 0.7%.
Aetna announced on Friday that the company is significantly increasing their dividend and moving from a nominal annual dividend to a quarterly payment cycle.
Annual dividend increases may be fine for regular dividend stocks, but these premier dividend stocks are rewarding investors with multiple dividend increases this year.
It was only 18 months ago that JP Morgan, Bank of America and even General Electric were in similar situations.
Falling oil prices are producing attractive dividend yields among stocks in the energy sector.