The Top Dividend Stocks of the Week

Some of last week's announced dividend increases were substantial. Of the top 10 dividend-raisers, more than half increased their payouts by 10%-plus. That's a bullish sign, especially during a week when the market dropped more than 500 points.

Stockpickr has gone through the entire list of dividend raisers and put together a list of the stocks with the greatest dividend increases on a percentage basis, compiling them in the Top Dividend-Raising Stocks for the Week.

Near the top of the list is Texas Instruments(TXN Quote), which raised its quarterly dividend by 25% to 10 cents a share. The company just reported an 11% increase in third-quarter earnings, primarily due to lower manufacturing costs and an increase in demand for analog chips. This is in spite of a 3% drop in revenue. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20, a P/E-to-growth ratio of 1 and a yield of 1.2%.

Ken Fisher has taken an interest in the stock. Fisher is a money manager overseeing $30 billion in assets and is also a columnist for Forbes magazine. He also likes Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold(FCX Quote), which yields 1.1%, Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote), with a yield of 1%, and Rio Tinto(RTP Quote), which yields 1.2%.

Another company that raised its dividend last week is Packaging Corp. of America(PKG Quote), which upped its payment by 20% to $1.20 a share. The company just reported record third-quarter earnings of $49 million, or 46 cents a share, vs. last year's earnings of 42 cents a share. Overall net sales increased 2.8%, but its exported sales were up 16% for the quarter. The stock has a P/E of 20 and a yield of 3.9%.

PKG appears on Stockpickr's Insider Purchases and Buybacks 10-18 portfolio, due to the fact that the board authorized the repurchase of up to $150 million of the company's stock. Other companies on the buyback list include Valspar(VAL Quote), with a yield of 2%, and Ruby Tuesday(RT Quote), with a 3% yield.