High-end retailer Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) is known for its fancy stores that feature scores of pricey apparel, fragrances and footwear more than it is for being a stock that income investors flock to. Nordstrom may be trying to change that with the announcement that will boost its quarterly dividend by 25% to 20 cents a share from 16 cents. The new dividend is payable on June 15^th to shareholders of record on May 28^th.

            Last week, Seattle-based Nordstrom said its first-quarter profit jumped 43%, but its full-year outlook disappointed investors. When factoring in the new payout, Nordstrom shares would yield about 2.1%, a fair amount above the 1.6% the shares currently yield. Analysts expect Nordstrom to earn $2.62 a share this year and $3.05 a share next year, so dividend coverage appears sufficient.

            This is Nordstrom’s first dividend hike 2007, but the payout has almost doubled since 2006.

About: General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), General Dynamics, Gulfstream jets, Department of Defense contractor

Defense contractor General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), the maker of nuclear submarines, Navy destroyers and Gulfstream jets, said it will raise its quarterly dividend by 10.5% to 42 cents a share from 38 cents. General Dynamics is a steady dividend raiser with annual increases for over 15 years.

With the latest increase, General Dynamics’ dividend has nearly quadrupled since 1999.

The new dividend is payable on May 7 to shareholders of record on April 9. General Dynamics’ current payout ratio is 24%.

Based on Wednesday’s closing price, General Dynamics will yield around 2.3% when factoring in the new dividend.

The shares currently trade at just 10.4 times forward earnings and are up 7% year-to-date.

Thus far in 2010, nearly 50 members of the S&P 500 have boosted their dividends.

More than 20 companies, including stocks outside of the S&P 500, have raised their payouts in the last two weeks alone.

About: Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), walmart, Dow yield, dividends, annual dividend

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), the world’s largest retailer, has joined the parade of Dow stocks to raise their dividends in recent weeks by announcing an 11% increase to its annual dividend. Wal-Mart will now pay $1.21 a share for 2010 up from $1.09 a share in 2009.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said it will return $4.5 billion to shareholders this year.

Arkansas-based Wal-Mart certainly has the cash to raise its dividend. Last month, the company said free cash flow rose to $14.1 billion in 2009 from $11.6 billion in 2008.

Wal-Mart boosted its dividend by 15% in 2009 and has increased its payout every since paying its first dividend in 1974.

The new dividend is payable on April 5th to shareholders of record on March 12th.

Based on Thursday’s closing price, Wal-Mart shares would yield 2.24% when factoring in the new payout.

That’s above the current yield of 2%, but below the average Dow yield of 2.8%.

About: Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), Qualcomm, Qualcomm dividend, Qualcomm dividend stock, Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends

Semiconductor maker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), whose shares are down 30% since the start of 2010 and 10% in the past two weeks, is trying to stop the bleeding. The California-based company announced a 12% increase to its quarterly dividend, taking the payout to 19 cents a share from 17 cents and implying a new yield of 2.1%.

Qualcomm also said it would repurchase $3 billion of its own shares, perhaps another moved aimed at recapturing the affections of scorned investors.

We’re not ones to malign a dividend increase and Qualcomm said it has returned $12.6 billion to shareholders since 2003. That’s a tidy sum, but it may not be enough to motivate many investors to hurry back into the stock, at least not in the near-term.

Remember, this is the same company that said in January it expects slack revenue and increased competitive pressures in 2010.

Although Qualcomm shares have endured their fair share of pain in recent weeks, the risk may still be too high to only garner a yield of just over 2%.

Investors should also note that there is no time table on the share buyback plan, so this could be a case of the company trying to gain some positive short-term press exposure.

Yes, these are positive announcements from Qualcomm, but they may equate to no more than a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound over the near-term.

About: Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO), Tractor Supply, tractor supply company, TSCO, Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends

Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO), a supplier of farm ranch products, said it will pay its first-ever quarterly dividend on March 29th to shareholders of record on March 15th.

The Tennessee-based company will pay 14 cents a share giving the shares a yield of around one percent based on Monday’s closing price.

Tractor Supply sells pet and animal supplies, farm maintenance products, lawn mowers and garden keeping-related products.

No, those aren’t the sexiest businesses to be involved in, but the allure lies in the fact that Tractor Supply is paying its first dividend and has plans to pay a dividend in the three remaining quarters of 2010.

Throw in the fact that the shares have nearly doubled in the past year and still only trade 15 times forward earnings and we may have a growth stock with value traits.

Want more? Tractor Supply has more than $110 million in free cash and just $1.8 million in debt.

About: Media giant Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Time Warner, AOL, News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS), Class A and Class B shares, Wal Disney (NYSE: DIS), Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends)

Media giant Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), buoyed by strength in its film and network businesses, reported a fourth-quarter profit after reporting a loss in the year-earlier period, beating analyst estimates along the way. For income investors, the good news comes in the form of Time Warner boosting its quarterly dividend by 13% to 21.25 cents a share. Time Warner paid a dividend of 18.8 cents a share in the third quarter and the shares currently yield 2.7%. Based on the new payout, Time Warner would yield about 3.07%.

The earnings report was Time Warner’s first following the spin-off the AOL business and the company said it expects 2010 earnings to grow in the “mid-teens.” Analysts are forecasting a 16% increase in 2010 earnings to $2.12 a share.

The news from Time Warner follows an announcement from rival News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWS), which said on Tuesday it would boost dividends on its Class A and Class B shares by 25% to 7.5 cents a share. That represents a yield of 1.1% on the Class A shares. News Corp. pays its dividend on a semiannual basis.

On Tuesday, News Corp. said it posted a fiscal second-quarter profit after enduring a loss in the year-earlier period. The company showed revenue growth across all its operating divisions except for the business that runs the popular MySpace social network.

The media sector isn’t exactly laden with high yielders, but it is worth noting that Time Warner offers a superior payout and yield to News Corp. and Wal Disney (NYSE: DIS), which only yields 1.2%.

About: Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), EBITDA, Days Inn and Super 8, Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends)

Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN), the hotel franchisor behind the Days Inn and Super 8 lodging brands, said its fourth-quarter rose 40 cents a share, above the company’s previous guidance of 35 cents tot 38 cents a share and the company will triple its quarterly dividend as a result. The company will pay a first-quarter dividend of 12 cents a share up from four cents.

Wyndham also announced it would resume repurchasing its own shares. The company has $157 million left on a $200 million share buyback plan. Based on Wednesday’s closing price, Wyndham’s yield will jump to 2.1% from 0.80%.

Wyndham expects EBITDA of $775 million to $825 million on revenue of $3.5 billion to $3.9 billion this year.

About: (Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB), Rollins (NYSE: ROL), Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI), Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS), Vanguard Natural Resources (NYSE: VNR), Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends)

January continues to be a great month in terms of dividend news and Tuesday was a particularly strong day with several noteworthy companies announcing dividend hikes or new dividends. Let’s take a look at some of the day’s dividend news.

            Network equipment maker Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB) said it earned $62 million, or 16 cents a share, in the fourth quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company earned nine cents a share, beating analyst estimates of seven cents a share. Tellabs has been cutting costs and lowering its headcount over the past several years and as a result, the company has the cash to pay its first-ever dividend. Tellabs will pay two cents a share on February 26^th to shareholders of record on February 12^th.

            Pest control company Rollins (NYSE: ROL) boosted its quarterly payout by nearly 29% to nine cents a share. The new dividend will be paid on March 10^th to shareholders of record on February 10^th.

            Railroad operator Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) said fourth-quarter results beat analyst estimates and that it expects double-digit earnings growth in 2010. The company boosted its quarterly dividend by seven percent to just over 25 cents a share.

            Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS) booked a fourth-quarter profit after posting a loss in the year earlier period and the company boosted its quarterly payout by 36% to 7.5 cents a share from 5.5 cents. The new dividend is payable on February 24^th to shareholders of record on Feb 9^th.

            Oil and gas explorer Vanguard Natural Resources (NYSE: VNR) raised its 2009 profit view by $6 million and said it will boost its fourth-quarter dividend to 52.5 cents a share from 50 cents.

About: (CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), dividend stock, Dividend Genius)

CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), the drugstore operator and pharmacy benefits provider, upped its quarterly dividend by 15% to 8.75 cents a share from 7.625 cents. The new dividend will be paid on February 2 to shareholders of record on January 22.

            This is the seventh consecutive year CVS has increased its dividend and the news may be all the more impressive when considering that the company said late last year that its Caremark business had lost several key pharmacy benefits clients. The shares currently yield just 0.9%, but with free cash of $1.24 billion and a payout ratio of just 12% before the new increase, CVS certainly has room for more increases in the future.

About: Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP (Nasdaq: CLMT), master limited partnerships (MLPs), Dividend Genius

If you follow our Dividend Genius portfolio, you know that we love master limited partnerships (MLPs). The Dividend Genius portfolio features several MLPs and all of them enjoyed stellar runs in 2009, helping our portfolio outperform the S&P 500 by more than three times. We noted in our December mid-month update that several analysts were forecasting increased distributions for MLPs in 2010 and one name that is proving that forecast correct is Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP (Nasdaq: CLMT).

            While Calumet isn’t a Dividend Genius holding, we do monitor the MLP space at large and found Calumet’s 1.1% distribution hike noteworthy because this is the first increase for the company. In fact, Calumet was a distribution cutter in 2008. The new quarterly distribution will be 45.5 cents a share.

            Indiana-based Calumet is unlike many of our favorite MLPs in that the company doesn’t play directly in the oil and natural gas sectors. Rather, the company produces hydrocarbon products such as waxes, solvents and lubricating oils. And while many MLPs, Calumet included, don’t get a lot of press, the Calumet’s units are up 8% in the past month.

            With the distribution increase, Calumet’s payout now rests at $1.82 per unit and the yield is a robust 9.3%. Those are compelling attributes when considering Calumet trades at 9.8 times its forward earnings and 1.4 times book value.