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Top Dividend Stocks of the Week: KALU

Stockpickr Staff

It seems that for the last few weeks, the number of companies that have increased their dividends has been decreasing. Fortunately, Stockpickr has been able to come up with several companies that did raise their dividends last week. The dividend-raisers represent a wide range of industries, including financial, retail, utility and basic materials.

One of the stocks with the biggest dividend increase is Kaiser Aluminum(KALU Quote), a manufacturer of fabricated aluminum products, which raised its quarterly dividend by 33% to 24 cents per share. The company just had a major fire break out at its Anglesey Aluminum Metal smelter subsidiary located in Wales. The stock has a P/E of 10, a PEG of 6.41 and a yield of 1.5%.

Kaiser is owned by Michael Price, the noted value investor and mutual fund manager. His hedge fund, MFP Investors, has about $1.6 billion under management. Price also owns Arkansas Best(ABFS Quote), with a yield of 1.7%, and Hearst-Argyle Television(HTV Quote), with a 1.3% yield.

Another stock that boosted its dividend last week is CR Bard(BCR Quote), a manufacturer of medical and surgical devices. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 7% to 16 cents per share. The company just completed its acquisition of Specialized Health Products International, a manufacturer of vascular access products. Bard has a P/E of 25, a PEG of 1.42 and a yield of 0.7%.

Bard is owned by the Diversified Mid-Cap Value Investors Fund, which is rated four stars by Morningstar and is managed by Jay Abramson. The fund has had an average annual return of 15.55% over the last five years. It also holds Questar(STR Quote), with a yield of 0.7%; Textron(TXT Quote), with a yield of 1.6%; and Oshkosh(OSK Quote), with a 1.1% yield.

Casey's General Stores (CASY Quote) also bumped up its quarterly dividend by 15% to 7.5 cents per share. This operator of convenience stores has locations primarily in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Although its profit dropped by 13% for the latest quarter of the fiscal year, its earnings exceeded analysts' expectations. The stock has a P/E of 14, a PEG of 1.34 and a yield of 1.2%.

Casey's showed up in the Stockpickr portfolio called Rocket Stocks for the Week of June 9-June 13, which lists stocks with the potential to snap back because of an irrational selloff during the previous week or some other potential catalyst. The portfolio also includes China Medical Technologies(CMED Quote), with a 0.9% yield, and Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack(PBY Quote), with a 2.9% yield.

For the rest of last week's dividend-raisers, check out the Top Dividend-Raisers for the Week Ending 6-15-08 portfolio at Stockpickr.com.