The Top Dividend Stocks of the Week

A good way to start off the new year is with a dividend increase on one of your stocks. There were several stocks that increased their dividends, and Stockpickr has compiled a list of the top 10 stocks that increased their dividends for the week: Top Dividend-Increasers for the Week Ending 1-12-08.

Cleveland-Cliffs(CLF Quote) is one of these companies, having raised its quarterly dividend 40% to 17.5 cents a share. This company is in the business of producing iron ore pellets for integrated steel companies. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19 and a yield of 0.8%.

Cleveland-Cliffs is a stock owned by Tontine Partners, a hedge fund with a few billion dollars under management that was up over 100% in both 2003 and 2005. Other stocks it holds are Wabash National(WNC Quote), which has a yield of 2.3%, Trinity Industries(TRN Quote), yielding 1.1%, and Ryland Group(RYL Quote), which has a 2% yield.

Corus Entertainment(CJR Quote) is another stock that raised its annual dividend, bumping it up by 20 cents, or 20%. In addition to its dividend increase, the Toronto, Ontario-based television and radio company just announced a 2-for-1 stock split. The stock has a P/E of 17.5 and a yield of 2.3%.

Corus also shows up in the Stockpickr portfolio MSN Money 40 Best Technicals, which, as its name suggests, lists the top technical stocks according to MSN Money. Other stocks in the portfolio include Albemarle(ALB Quote), with a yield of 1.1%, Goldcorp(GG Quote), with a 0.5% yield, and Heico(HEI Quote), which has a yield of 0.2%.

Embarq(EQ Quote) raised its quarterly dividend by 10% to 69 cents a share. This telecommunications company also just implemented a $500 million share-repurchase program. Its earnings call is scheduled for Feb. 7. The stock has a P/E of 10, a PEG of 3.6 and a yield of 5.8%.

Embarq shares are also owned by RiverSource Dividend Opportunity, a fund that generated an average annual return of more than 14% over the last five years.

Other stocks it holds include Chevron(CVX Quote), with a 2.6% yield, Bank of America (BAC Quote), with a 6.6% yield, and Carolina Group(CG Quote), with a 2.1% yield.

To see the entire list of stocks, check out the Top Dividend-Increasers for the Week Ending 1-12-08 at Stockpickr.com.