Companies have been boosting dividends en masse for the last few year, driving payouts higher as corporate earnings and holdings of cash grew to all-time highs. The result is the biggest cash dividend payout ever from S&P 500 stocks than ever right now and an average dividend yield that's higher than it's been any time in the last 20 years. So clearly, now's not a bad time to be an income investor. But the downpour of dividend hikes is slowing a bit this quarter.
Today, we'll look into the crystal ball to try and find firms likely to hike their payouts in the quarter ahead: Cosmetics and fragrance manufacturer Estee Lauder (EL), Natural gas firm Spectra Energy (SE), Another firm that looks ready for a dividend hike is chipmaker Altera (ALTR), Oil exploration and production firm Murphy Oil (MUR) and a $5.4 billion disability insurer Unum (UNM).
Source: The Street
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