Facebook
Twitter
Assuming you’ve recovered from the massive oil sell-off last week, it is time to take a look at where investors can collect some extra income this week.
Thanksgiving week was short, yet still quite eventful. Oil and anything oil related took a major hit on Friday.
If you’re invested in energy, I hope you’re also invested in some dividend paying stocks to help soften the blow. Granted, dividend investing isn’t without risks, but dividend stocks do offer income that can protect your downside.
We’ve been digging through the slew of stocks paying a dividend each week and picking out the top five that are increasing their dividend payments.
Last week’s dividend increases were chock full of well-known names, including one of the most recognized Dividend Aristocrats around.
This week has some less followed names but still includes a number of Dividend Aristocrats, a special dividend and something for bank investors.
Dividend Increase No. 1: Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC)
First up is the movie theater operator Regal Entertainment, which operates nearly 600 theaters across 44 states. Its regular quarterly dividend is $0.22 a share, which comes to a 3.8% dividend yield.
The real reason Regal made our list this week because it will pay a $1.00 per share special dividend this month, which is in addition to its $0.22 regular payment. So investors can collect $1.22 this month, which means that its effective dividend yield will be 8.2% for the next year.
Shares trade ex-dividend Dec. 2.
Of the three major movie theater operators, Regal offers the highest regular dividend yield. Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK) and AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) offer 2.8% and 3.1% dividend yields, respectively.
Dividend Increase No. 2: Lancaster Colony Corporation (NYSE: LACN)
Lancaster Colony is a maker of various salad dressings, frozen breads and dips under various brands — including New York Brand, Marzetti and Sister Schubert’s.
It’ll be upping its quarterly dividend payment by a modest 4.5% later this week, from 44 cents to 46 cents. Its dividend yield also doesn’t seem much at 2%, but the company is an underrated Dividend Aristocrat, having increased its annual dividend for 51 straight years.
Shares will trade ex-dividend Dec. 4.
Its price-to-earnings ratio is over 25, which some investors might consider high given that the S&P 500 trades at 20. However, Lancaster Colony has no debt and a strong return on invested capital of 19%.
Dividend Increase No. 3: The Valspar Corporation (NYSE: VAL)
Valspar is the well-known paints company. It makes various paints and coatings, including various primers and topcoats. Its largest customer is Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), but Valspar is also rolling out its products in over 3,000 Ace Hardware stores — which comes after Valspar bought Ace’s paint manufacturing business last year.
The paint manufacturer is upping its quarterly dividend payment by 15% to 30 cents a share later this week. Although Valspar offers the lowest dividend yield of the five stocks we have listed, coming in at an uneventful 1.2%, it’s another Dividend Aristocrat. The company has boosted its dividend for 32 consecutive years.
Valspar will trade ex-dividend on Dec. 4.
Dividend Increase No. 4: V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC)
V.F. Corp is a great way to keep your portfolio warm this winter. It should be a big beneficiary of the cold snap we saw last month since V.F. Corp manufactures major winter brands such as The North Face and Timberland.
The apparel maker is upping its quarterly dividend payment by nearly 22% later this week. The new payment of 32 cents a share will put V.F. Corp’s dividend yield up to 1.7%. V.F. Corp is another underrated Dividend Aristocrat, having upped its dividend for 41 straight years. And it’ll trade ex-dividend at Dec. 5.
Dividend Increase No. 5: United Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: UBCP)
Last but not least, as it offers the highest dividend yield of our five at 4.4%, is a very small bank. With a $40 million market cap, you’ve likely never heard of United Bancorp. It’s a commercial bank in Ohio that operates under the name The Citizens Savings Bank.
The regional bank had to cut its dividend in half back in 2012. It’s regaining its strength as a consistent dividend payer this week by upping its quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 9 cents a share. It marks just the second year in a row United has increased its dividend.
Shares trade with a price-to-book ratio near 1.0, while the industry average for Midwest regional banks is over 2.0. United Bancorp will trade ex-dividend Dec. 5.
Six times BIGGER Dividends – with this one stock
The average yield of the Dow has sunk to 2.1%. That’s just sad. However, we know of one group of investors collecting up to $550 every 30 days… from a little-known investment that yields a whopping 12%! That’s roughly six times bigger than the average yield of the Dow. If you’d like to tap into this income stream, and earn six times bigger dividends, click here for our full report on this opportunity.