7 Companies Creating Real Wealth With Higher Cash Dividends

A stock dividend, also known as a "scrip dividend", is a dividend payment made with stock instead of cash. Sometimes when companies are tight on cash, they will declare and pay a stock dividend in lieu of a cash dividend. Most shareholders feel like they are getting something. But are they really? In short, a stock dividend is nothing more than a glorified stock split. At the end of the process, the shareholder has more shares that are worth less. Like a stock split, you can not create value by issuing paper and getting nothing in exchange.

Below are several select companies that recently decided to create real value for their shareholders by raising their cash dividends:

Chevron (CVX) recently increased its quarterly dividend 6.2% to $1.19 per share. The dividend is payable Mar. 11, 2019 to stockholders of record on Feb. 15, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 14, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 4.2%.

AFLAC (AFL) recently increased its quarterly dividend 3.8% to $0.27 per share. The dividend is payable Mar. 1, 2019 to stockholders of record on Feb. 20, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 19, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 2.3%.

Simon Property (SPG) recently increased its quarterly dividend 2.5% to $2.05 per share. The dividend is payable Feb. 28, 2019 to stockholders of record on Feb. 14, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 13, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 4.5%.

Marathon Petroleum (MPC) recently increased its quarterly dividend 15% to $0.53 per share. The dividend is payable Mar. 11, 2019 to stockholders of record on Feb. 20, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 19, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 3.3%.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) recently increased its quarterly dividend 5.6% to $0.19 per share. The dividend is payable Mar. 22, 2019 to stockholders of record on Mar. 1, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 28, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 2.7%. Additionally, Juniper plans to enter an ~$300M accelerated share repurchase program.

Anthem (ANTM) recently increased its quarterly dividend 6.7% to $0.80 per share. The dividend is payable Mar. 29, 2019 to stockholders of record on Mar. 18, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Mar. 15, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 1.2%.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) recently increased its quarterly dividend 31% to $0.17per share. The dividend is payable Feb. 28, 2019 to stockholders of record on Feb. 14, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Feb. 13, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 1.45%.

Selecting stocks with increasing dividends is critical for an income growth strategy. The above list contains stocks that recently raised their dividends; it is not a list of recommend buys. As always, due diligence should be performed before buying or selling any stock.

Full Disclosure: Long CVX, AFL,

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Tags: CVX, AFL, SPG, MPC, JNPR, ANTM, SCHW,
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