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If you’re a fan of high yields, you won’t want to miss this week’s round of dividend increases.
There are very few investing strategies that work for everyone. We think dividend investing is one that can.
Steady dividend-paying stocks can help provide downside protection in a choppy market, but they can also help juice your returns in a bustling market. With that said, we dig through the slew of stocks paying a dividend each week and pick out the five best that are increasing their dividend payments.
Last week’s dividend increases were few and far between, but did include a Dividend Aristocrat. While we don’t have any aristocrats this week, the list below is chocked full of high-yielding real estate investment trusts (REITs) and master limited partnerships (MLPS).
All our dividend increases this week come from stocks yielding 4% or more. Without further ado, here are the top 5 dividend increases this week:
Dividend Increase No. 1: EPR Properties (NYSE: EPR)
EPR is an interesting REIT, in that it owns and operates various “specialty” real estate. The company owns movie theaters, ski parks, water parks and other entertainment-related properties. And its 5.6% dividend yield is very enticing.
It’ll be paying a $0.3025 a share quarterly dividend later this week, up from the previous $0.285 it was offering. This is the first dividend increase for the REIT in three years. But it has been paying a dividend for 17 years.
Shares trade ex-dividend on Jan. 28.
Dividend Increase No. 2: ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE)
ONEOK is a diversified energy company. Its core business includes gathering and processing natural gas. Its dividend yield is already an impressive 5.5% and it has paid a dividend for 29 years now.
And it’s upping its dividend to $0.605 a share this week, marking the fifth straight quarterly increase. ONEOK spun off its utility business in early 2014 and since then it’s been on a dividend increasing tear — having raised its dividend by 50% over the last year.
It’ll trade ex-dividend on Jan. 28.
Dividend Increase No. 3: Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA)
Plains All American is an oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) transportation storage MLP. It has assets in some of the fastest-growing shale plays in the U.S., including the Eagle Ford, Bakken and Permian Basin shales.
The MLP is paying a 5.2% distribution yield. It’s upping its distribution by 2% this week to $0.675 a unit. This marks the ninth straight quarterly distribution increase. In fact, Plains All American has upped its annual distribution for 15 years in a row.
This MLP will trade ex-dividend on Jan. 28.
Dividend Increase No. 4: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD)
Enterprise Products Partners is an MLP that provides processing, storage and transportation services for natural gas and other refined products. Given its exposure to NGLs, versus oil, Enterprise also made our list of 3 enticing MLPs to play the oil selloff.
It’ll be upping its distribution to $0.37 per unit later this week. It did cut its distribution in half last year, but still yields a solid 4.2%. It’s been paying a distribution for 16 years now.
The MLP trades ex-dividend on Jan. 28.
Dividend Increase No. 5: Ford (NYSE: F)
The country’s second largest automaker rounds out our list, offering a 4% dividend yield. It’s upping its quarterly dividend by 20% this week to 15 cents a share. The car company has been paying a dividend for three straight years now and only pays out 54% of its earnings via dividends.
Growth-wise, Ford has an opportunitiy to further tap the China market while positioning itself for a rebound in the European economies. The valuation is also compelling, with the stock trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of less than 10.
Shares trade ex-dividend Jan. 28.
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