About: Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), Applied Materials, dividend, dividend stock, stock dividend, dividends

Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), the biggest maker of gear and machines used to manufacture semiconductors, said it will boost its quarterly dividend by 17% to 7 cents a share from 6 cents. Last month, the company said it posted a first-quarter profit after its revenue surged 39%.
California-based Applied Materials last raised its dividend in March 2007. Factoring in the new dividend, Applied Materials shares will yield about 1.95%. Applied Materials provided shareholders with another round of good news by saying it will repurchase $2 billion worth of its own stock over the next three years. The company had 1.34 billion shares outstanding at the end of January.

The new dividend is payable on June 16^th to shareholders of record on May 26^th.

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Jim Trippon
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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: Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), CEO Richard Adkerson, Freeport, copper miner, Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), the largest U.S. copper miner and a bellwether commodities stock, may be in line for a dividend increase after reinstating part of its previously suspended payout earlier this year. Freeport cuts its $2 per share annual dividend in December 2008 as the commodities bubble was bursting to save some cash, but the company reinstated a 60 cent per share annual payout on February 1st.

On Monday, CEO Richard Adkerson said Freeport could raise its dividend this year “assuming reasonable market conditions.“ Adkerson also noted that his company has had a “shareholder friendly“ view of share repurchases. The company said that none of its employees or properties were affected by the recent 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, one of the most copper-rich countries in the world.

As we noted when we reported on Freeport’s dividned reinstatement, at least one analyst is expecting the company to generate $1 billion to $1.5 billion in free cash flow over the next year and that cash could buoy a higher payout. And don’t forget that dividend cutters that move quickly to reinstate their payouts often outperform their rivals on a valuation basis.

Altria Lights Up Its Dividend

We have noted in the past that regardless of one’s consumption of the tobacco industry’s profits, these stocks are worth a look for income investors hungry for consistent dividends with robust yields. Of the three largest U.S. cigarette makers, only Lorillard (NYSE: LO) has a yield below 6.7%. Still, Lorillard yields a tidy 5.2%. On the other hand, we Altria (NYSE: MO), the biggest U.S. cigarette maker, was yielding 6.7% as of Wednesday’s close and the maker of the Marlboro brand also announced on Wednesday that it will boost its quarterly dividend by 2.9% to 35 cents a share from 34 cents.

The new dividend is payable on April 9 to shareholders of record on March 15. Based on Wednesday’s closing price, Altria would yield almost 7% when factoring in the new dividend. The new dividend will take Altria’s payout ratio to 80% from 75%, a change the company had previously said it was targeting.

Altria, which makes 16 other brands in addition to Marlboro, is a prodigious generator of free cash, boasting a war chest of $4.27 billion at the end of 2008, making dividend increases easy for the company to digest. Of course it should be noted that with today’s dividend increase Altria has now boosted its dividend in 40 of the past 43 years.

Home Depot Builds A Bigger Dividend

Home Depot (NYSE: HD), the largest U.S. home improvement retailer, reported a fourth-quarter profit after positing a loss in the year-earlier period as same-store sales rose 1.2% for the company’s first gain on that front since the first quarter of 2006. The Dow component said it expects to earn $1.79 a share this year. That’s above the the $1.72 consensus estimate, and between Home Depot’s profit report today and the one issued by rival Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) on Monday, it appears the worst may be behind the housing market.

While calling a bottom in housing and becoming immediately bullish on Home Depot and Lowe’s may or may not be the proper course of action to take right now, we do know that Home Depot also said it is boosting its quarterly dividend by 5% to 23.625 cents per share. That’s the company’s first dividend increase since 2006. The new dividend is payable on March 25 to shareholders of record on March 11.

Factoring in the higher dividend into Home Depot’s closing price on Tuesday the yield would move close 3.1% from 3%. Home Depot is the fourth Dow component to boost its payout in recent weeks, following United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO).

Kimberly Clark Makes Good On Promise To Boost Dividend

Last month, we told that you consumer products giant Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB), the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, looked like a strong candidate for a dividend increase. Of course, we have to admit we were passing along news that the company itself said it would likely raise its dividend in a meaningful way this year.

Well, the Dallas-based company has made on its promise to shareholders by announcing a 10% dividend hike to its quarterly dividend. That takes the payout to 66 cents a share per quarter, up from 60 cents. With annual dividend of $2.40 a share, Kimberly Clark was already yielding a decent 4%, but based on Tuesday’s closing price, the shares would yield almost 4.4% when factoring in the new dividend.

And we cannot forget to mention that this is the 38th consecutive year that Kimberly Clark has raised its dividend. For some icing on the cake, as we noted last month, Kimberly Clark also plans to repurchase $500 to $600 million of its own stock this year.

About: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), 3M (NYSE: MMM), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), the world’s largest soft-drink maker, said it will raise its quarterly dividend by seven percent to 44 cents a share from 41 cents. That increases the annual to dividend to $1.76 from $1.64 a share. Coca-Cola, a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is the third member of that index to boost its dividend in the past week, joining 3M (NYSE: MMM) and United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), which announced higher dividends last week.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that this is the 48^th consecutive year in which Coca-Cola has increased its payout. The new dividend is payable on April 1 to shareholders of record on March 15^th. The company returned $5.3 billion to shareholders in 2009, $3.8 billion of it was in the form of dividends and the remainder was in share buybacks.

Over the past decade, Coca-Cola has seen its free cash flow double to $6 billion and Business Week estimates the value of the Coke brand is close to $69 billion. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is the largest owner of Coca-Cola stock, owning 200 million of the shares.