The last two weeks of December are typically characterized by low trading volumes, a lot of market holidays and few news regarding dividend increases. Nevertheless when a company announces its intent to raise distributions, it generally sends a positive message to markets and shareholders, especially when a company is paying at least a decent dividend yield. Several companies announced dividend increases over the past week, including Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), which continued the positive momentum of dividend raises that Pfizer (PFE) started earlier in the month.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of pharmaceuticals and nutritional products worldwide. It operates in two segments, Pharmaceuticals and Nutritionals. The pharmaceuticals giant increased its quarterly dividend by 3.2% to 32 cents per share. Bristol-Myers Squibb does not have a consistent history of dividend increases. The stock currently yields 5.00%.
“This dividend increase reflects our ongoing commitment to deliver shareholder value,” said James M. Cornelius, chairman and chief executive officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb. “We have made excellent progress in executing our strategy and we are confident in the strength of our BioPharma business. Our performance has helped put us in a strong cash position today and we expect solid cash flows to continue in the years ahead.”
The Ensign Group, Inc (ENSG), which provides nursing and rehabilitative care services in California, Arizona, Texas, Washington, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, increased its quarterly dividend by 11% to 5 cents per share. This is the second consecutive dividend increase for the Ensign Group, Inc since the company went public in 2007. The stock currently yields 1.30%.
Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN), which manages families of equity, fixed income, and balanced mutual funds for its clients, increased its quarterly dividend by 5% to 22 cents per share. The investment manager also declared a special dividend of $3/share. Franklin Resources, Inc. is a dividend champion, which has increased its quarterly dividend in each of the past twenty nine years. The stock currently yields 0.90%.
Full disclosure: None
Relevant Articles:
- AT&T Raises Distributions by 2.4%
- 8 Dividend Achievers Strike Back
- 7 Dividend Raisers for the week
- Eight stocks with positive dividend momentum
Popular Posts
-
The S&P Dividend Aristocrats index tracks companies in the S&P 500 that have increased dividends every year for at least 25 years ...
-
A lot of people would tell you that receiving a dividend is the same as selling stock That's deceptive at best, and an outright lie at ...
-
Today marks the 18th year of the Dividend Growth Investor blog. I started it on my kitchen table 18 years ago, as a way to share my throught...
-
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway just received a dividend check for $204 million dollars from Coca-Cola. Berkshire Hathaway owns 400 mil...
-
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger need no introduction. If you do, please check the Wikipedia entries for each fellow. I am a big fan of bot...
-
I was going through my file cabinet, and uncovered an interesting presentation from Morningstart on the Power of Economic Moats. An economic...
-
As a dividend growth investor, I have owned shares in major tobacco companies such as Altria (MO) , Phillip Morris International (PM) and B...
-
The US Stock Market has delivered great returns for patient long-term investors. You just need to have a 20 - 30 year timeframe, and avoid p...
-
Anne Scheiber worked as an auditor for the IRS. She retired at the age of 51 in 1944, and focused on managing her portfolio for the next 51 ...
-
Warren Buffett's investment in Coca-Cola (KO) is really fascinating. He started buying it in 1988 after the 1987 Stock Market crash. Buf...
