7 Stocks Avoiding A July Freeze With Increased Dividends

For a dividend investor, there is not much worse than a stock that cuts or eliminates its dividend. Suddenly, the reason you purchased the stock no longer exists. Many dividend investors, myself included, have a hard and fast rule to immediately sell any stock held as income investment if it cuts its dividend. However, when a company freezes its dividend at the current rate, the decision is not as clear-cut. At this point you must look at alternative investments, along with the company’s current yield and future outlook.

Here are a few select companies that have avoided a July freeze by increasing the cash dividends paid to their shareholders:

Bank of America (BAC) recently increased its quarterly dividend 20% to $0.18 per share. The dividend is payable Sep. 27, 2019 to stockholders of record on Sep. 6, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Sep. 5, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 2.4%.

Wells Fargo (WFC) recently increased its quarterly dividend 13% to $0.51 per share. The dividend is payable Sep. 1, 2019 to stockholders of record on Aug. 9, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Aug. 8, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 4.3%. The company plans to repurchase an additional 350M shares of common stock.

Lowe's (LOW) recently increased its quarterly dividend 15% to $0.55 per share. The dividend is payable Aug. 7, 2019 to stockholders of record on Jul. 24, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Jul. 23, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 2.1%.

Union Pacific (UNP) recently increased its quarterly dividend 10% to $0.97 per share. The dividend is payable Sep. 30, 2019 to stockholders of record on Aug. 30, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Aug. 29, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 2.2%.

Yamana Gold (AUY) recently increased its quarterly dividend 100% to $0.01 per share. The dividend is payable Oct. 15, 2019 to stockholders of record on Sep. 30, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Sep. 27, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 1.4%.

Kellogg (K) recently increased its quarterly dividend 1.8% to $0.57 per share. The dividend is payable Sep. 13, 2019 to stockholders of record on Sep. 3, 2019, with an ex-dividend date of Aug. 30, 2019. The yield based on the new payout is 3.9%.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) declares $0.89/share quarterly dividend, 2.9% increase from prior dividend of $0.865.
Forward yield 5.2%
Payable Aug. 14; for shareholders of record Aug. 6; ex-div Aug. 5.

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: No position in the aforementioned securities.

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Tags: BAC, WFC, LOW, UNP, AUY, K, OKE,