The Top Dividend Stocks of the Week

Here's something we don't see every week at Stockpickr: Three of the stocks that turned up on our Top Dividend-Raisers of the Week sport single-letter ticker symbols.

It is extremely difficult for a publicly traded company to get a one-letter stock symbol, almost as difficult as trying to buy a one-letter Web domain name. The three one-letter-ticker companies that increased their dividends last week are Realty Income(O Quote), which upped its monthly payment by 0.5%; Qwest Communications(Q Quote), which reinstated its quarterly dividend; and AT&T(T Quote), which raised its quarterly dividend by 12.7%.

One of the biggest dividend-raisers last week was Franklin Resources(BEN Quote). This large family of mutual funds increased its quarterly dividend by 33% to 20 cents a share. The company just reported preliminary month-end assets under management of $647 billion, up from $541.6 billion for the same month last year. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16, a P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.2 and a yield of 0.5%.

Franklin shares are owned by the Schwab Core Equity Fund, which is managed by Jeff Mortimer using a strictly quantitative approach. The fund has outperformed a reported 15.3% over the last one-year period. Schwab also owns shares of Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote), which yields 0.6%, Boeing(BA Quote), which yields 1.8%, and MetLife(MET Quote), which offers a dividend payout of 1.2%.

Another stock with a large dividend increase last week is Cameco(CCJ Quote). The Canadian uranium mining company raised its annual dividend by 20% to 24 cents per share. In the fall, the company posted a 25% rise in quarterly profits. The stock has a P/E of 34 and a yield of 0.5%.

Cameco is a stock owned by the Blackrock Equity Dividend Fund, a five-star Morningstar-rated fund that has generated an average annual return of 18.3% over the past three years. Its portfolio also includes Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), with a yield of 1.5%; Bank of America(BAC Quote), with a 5.9% yield; and Chevron(CVX Quote), with a 2.5% yield.

For the entire list, check out the Top Dividend-Raisers for the Week Ending-12-16-07 at Stockpickr.com.