Companies Raising Dividends in 2008

Another tough week has emerged on Wall Street.  Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch has agreed to bee sold to Bank of America for $50 billion.  An excellent write up on this can be found at the New York Times.  I have always considered S&P's  Dividend Aristocrats (firms that have increased dividends every year for the last 25 years) a bit of a safe harbor, especially in the current market environment.  However, this year has been tough even for some of the companies on this list; four financial stocks have fallen off: SLM, FITB, SNV, and FHN.  However, the some of the aristocrats have already made substantial increases to their dividends in 2008, a clear indication of management's confidence that they will remain profitable:

DOV, Dover Corp., from $0.20 to $0.25, +25.0%

WWY, Wm Wrigley Jr. Co., from $0.29 to $0.34, +17.2%

APD, Air Products, from $0.38 to $0.44, +15.8%

CLX, Clorox Co., from $0.40 to $0.46, +15.0%

XOM, Exxon Mobil Corp., from $0.35 to $0.40, +14.3%

GWW, WW Grainger Inc., from $0.35 to $0.40, +14.3%

PG, Procter & Gamble, from $0.35 to $0.40, +14.3%

TGT, Target Corporation, from $0.14 to $0.16, +14.3%

CB, Chubb Corp., from $0.29 to $0.33, +13.8%

PEP, Pepsico Inc., from $0.38 to $0.43, +13.1%

LOW, Lowe's Companies, Inc., from $0.08 to $0.09, +12.5%

KO, The Coca Cola Company, from $0.34 to $0.38, +11.8%

ROH, Rohm and Haas Company, from $0.37 to $0.41, +10.8%

PFE, Pfizer Inc., from $0.29 to $0.32, +10.3%

WAG, Walgreens, from $0.10 to $0.11, +10.0%

JNJ, Johnson and Johnson, from $0.42 to $0.46, +9.5%

KMB, Kimberly-Clark Corp., from $0.53 to $0.58, +9.4%

SHW, Sherwin Williams Co., from $0.32 to $0.35, +9.4%

LLY, Eli Lilly and Company, from $0.43 to $0.47, +9.3%

WMT, Wal-Mart Store, from $0.22 to $0.24, +9.1%

ABT, Abbott Labs, from $0.33 to $0.36, +9.0%

CINF, Cincinnati Financial Corp., from $0.36 to $0.39, +8.3%

SIAL, Sigma Aldrich Corporation, from $0.12 to $0.13, +8.3%

BCR, CR Bard, from $0.15 to $0.16. +6.7%

CMA, Comerica Inc., from $0.64 to $0.68, +6.3%

PBI, Pitney Bowes Inc., from $0.33 to $0.35, +6.1%

STT, State Street Corp., from $0.23 to $0.24, +4.4%

MHP, McGraw Hill Companies, Inc., from $0.21 to $0.22, +4.8%

SWK, Stanley Works, from $0.31 to $0.32, +3.2%

BBT, BB & T Corp., from $0.46 to $0.47, +2.2%

ED, Consolidated Edison, Inc., from $0.58 to $0.59, +1.7%

TEG, Integrys Energy Group. from $0.66 to $0.67, +1.5%

KeyCorp (KEY) raised its dividend from $0.37 to $0.38 in 2008, but then had to later cut its payment to $0.19 in the third quarter.

Comments

[Assetologist]

Thanks for sharing. Compiling this list was in my 'to-do' jar for this weekend.
A rising tide lifts all ships but some are built to last.