5 Companies Increasing Dividends Last Week

Stock dividend information shows the fast-and-furious pace of the recent
increases slowed down a bit last week, as earnings season winds down. However,
there was still a parade of payout performers upping the quarterly dividend paid
to shareholders. Stock dividend research from last week once again shows a
diverse group of investments, with big tech, high security and office supplies
highlighting the roster. Here are five companies increasing dividends last week.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT ). The semiconductor giant and dividend stock
has its silicon in all sorts of operations, from semiconductor chips to flat
panel displays to solar panels. Business is good for AMAT, so the company
decided to give out more dividends to shareholders. How much more? Well, the
company upped its quarterly payout by 14% to 8 cents per share. The new dividend
is payable on Jun. 22 to shareholders of record as of Jun. 1. Bank of Nova
Scotia (NYSE: BNS ). Canada's biggest bank posted a record first-quarter
profit last week on improvements in credit-loss provisions. The company, also
known as Scotiabank, spread the wealth to shareholders after the record
earnings, upping its quarterly dividend by 6%. Scotiabank is the second of the
five big Canadian banks to increase its payout since the Great Recession of
2008. The new quarterly dividend of 52 cents per share is payable on Apr. 27 to
shareholders of record on Apr. 5. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM ). The wireless
technology giant dialed-up a quarterly dividend boost to shareholders of 13%.
The new payout of 21.5 cents per share replaces the current payout of just 19
cents per share. The company said the rise in its dividend was driven by
significant surge in demand for the high-end 3G smartphones and tablets, and
that resulted in solid revenue and earnings growth. The new payout will be made
after March 25. Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS ). The world's largest office supply
company upped its dividend ante by a penny to 10 cents per share. The move comes
just about a week after Staples reported a 19% jump in annual earnings. Staples
will supply its 11% dividend increase on Apr. 14 to shareholders of record on
March 25. Tyco International (NYSE: TYC ). The security and fire alarm company,
which also makes industrial instruments, sounded the dividend alarm to
shareholders last week—but in a good way. Tyco announced that its board has
approved an approximate 20% increase in its annual dividend. The new dividend,
paid quarterly, of 25 cents per share will begin on May 25 to shareholders of
record on Apr. 29. At the time of publication, Jim Woods held no positions in
any of the stocks mentioned in this article.