5 Stocks Increasing Dividends

Among high yield dividend stocks boosting their payday this week are blue chips Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM). Dividend stock investments like these remain in favor as investors look for the safety of yield instead of just betting on a stock�s share appreciation.

One good rule of thumb for dividend stock investors is to make sure they purchase companies raising their dividends instead of just keeping them steady � or even worse, cutting them. A long track record of dividends is also important, and one of this week�s dividend increases in Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR) boasts a record of dividends since 1943.

It�s pretty quiet on the dividend front this week without many earnings reports. Typically, increases in dividend payouts occur around quarterly earnings numbers. However, there are a few stocks raising their yields worth pointing out:

Texas Instruments Dividend Increase

On Thursday, Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) approved a $7.5 billion stock buyback alongside a dividend increase of +8% for the tech giant. Texas Instruments raised its dividend by a penny to 13 cents a share quarterly, giving TXN stock a new dividend yield of about 1.9%.

Dividends at Texas Instruments are reliable, with a quarterly payday since 1962, however the 1 cent increase is meager and the first dividend boost in over five fiscal quarters.

Texas Instruments has a market cap of just under $30 billion, as has been lagging the broader markets lately. In� 2010, TXN stock is down about 2% compared with a small gain for the Dow Jones.

Kroger Dividend Increase

Grocery store heavyweight Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) posted strong earnings this week, and along with that report came news of an +11% increase to the company�s dividend. The increase of a penny will give KR stock a 10.5 cent dividend this quarter, for a dividend yield of about 1.9%

On Tuesday, supermarket giant Kroger said earnings per share rose to 41 cents in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 from 39 cents a year earlier. Sales, including gasoline at Kroger stores, were $18.8 billion for the quarter, up +6% from a year earlier. Without fuel, sales rose +2.7%.

Kroger has been outperforming the market in 2010, with shares up about +6% so far since January 1.

Yum Dividend Increase

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) announced a +19% dividend increase this week. The more boosted YUM stock�s quarterly dividends from 21 cents to 25 cents a share and gave the fast-food leader a new dividend yield of 2.1%.

The dividend payment to be distributed on November 5 �to shareholders of record October 15. �The Yum! dividend policy continues to target a payout ratio of 35 to 40% of annual net income.

YUM stock is having a breakout year, with shares up +31% year to date compared to a relatively flat stock market.

Paccar Dividend Increase

Truck maker Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR) said Tuesday it will raise its quarterly dividend to 12 cents from 9 cents per share, a +33% increase that gives the company a new yield of about 1%.

The dividend will be paid Dec. 6 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 19. Though the company�s yield isn�t stunning, Paccar has been paying dividends since 1943.

PCAR stocks has been performing very well this year, with gains of about +22% so far in 2010 compared to a small increase in the major indexes.

Colony Financial Dividend Increase

Small-cap real estate finance company Colony Financial Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) approved a +19% increase for the REIT�s quarterly dividend. This is the company’s third increase this year, from 21 to 25 cents previously, and brings the dividend yield of Colony Financial to about 4.6%

Colony Financial went public about a year ago, and has had a rough go of it due to the mortgage crisis. The stock is off about -5% since its fall 2009 IPO and off about -9% year-to-date. However, the big dividend yield is worth noting.

As of this writing, Jeff Reeves did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.

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