U.S. Companies Add $11.2 Billion to Dividend Payments

S&P Indices announced today that dividend increases rose 32.5% during the second quarter of 2011 to 444 from the 335 recorded during the second quarter of 2010. Of the approximately 7,000 publicly owned companies that report dividend information to S&P, only 21 decreased their dividend payment during the second quarter of 2011 versus the 34 that lowered their payment during the second quarter of 2010.

"If dividends were a paycheck, dividend investors would have received an 11.1% raise in the first half of 2011," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Indices. "Dividend increases are commitments not just to current payments but to upcoming obligations. Companies need to be sure that their earnings and cash flow will continue into future periods to satisfy payments."

Source: PR Newswire

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