8 Companies Increasing Dividends

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tdp2664 InvestorPlace It was another week of volatile trade in the market, as news that European leaders were close to a deal on propping up the region's ailing financial system sent stocks higher to kick things off. The market faltered midweek, as mixed earnings from Alcoa (NYSE: AA ) started off the reporting season on a shaky note which sent the market lower. On Friday, stocks jumped out of the gate on better-than-expected retail sales numbers and stellar earnings from tech bellwether Google ( NASDAQ : GOOG ). Amidst the week's action we saw a bevy of big-cap stocks bumping up their payouts to shareholders. Here are eight companies increasing dividends this week. Albemarle Specialty chemical maker Albemarle (NYSE: ALB ) mixes up a variety of high-tech substances, and this week it went into the lab to concoct a slick new dividend. The company raised its payout by a penny per share to 17.5 cents, an approximate 6% increase over the prior dividend. The new dividend is payable Jan. 1 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15. The new dividend yield, based on the Oct. 13 closing price (the day the company announced the increased payout) of $47.50, is 1.47%. Albemarle also said its board approved an increase of its existing stock buyback program to 5 million shares. The company said it bought back 3 million shares under the program during the third quarter, reducing its total number of outstanding shares to about 88.8 million as of Sept. 30. Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. Specialty hydrocarbon products manufacturer Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. ( NASDAQ : CLMT ) is well-known for making crude oil into fuel products for diesel and jet engines. This week the company put a little fuel in its payout to shareholders, upping its quarterly cash distribution to 50 cents per unit. The distribution will be paid on Nov. 14 to holders of record as of Nov. 4. The new dividend yield, based on the Oct. 11 closing price of $17.71, is a very high-octane 11.29%. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Natural gas and midstream energy pipeline services firm Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD ) turned up the gas on its quarterly distribution by 5% to 61.25 cents per unit. The new distribution will be delivered on Nov. 9 to unitholders of record as of Oct. 31. The new dividend yield, based on the Oct. 13 closing price of $42.55, is 5.76%. The limited partnership has raised its distribution for 29 consecutive quarters. Fastenal Construction supply, hardware and electric products wholesaler and retailer Fastenal ( NASDAQ : FAST ) provided the materials for a newly built dividend, upping its quarterly payout by a penny per share to 14 cents. The new dividend yield, based on the Oct. 12 closing price of $34.62, is 1.62%. In addition to the dividend boost, the company announced its third-quarter profit jumped 29% on a steep increase in sales. Fastenal earned $96.8 million, or 33 cents per share, up from $75 million, or 25 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Sales rose 20% to $726.7 million from $603.8 million.