The Top Dividend Stocks of the Week

Updated from 6:24 a.m. EST

Companies are continuing to send strong positive signals by increasing their dividends. The companies that boosted their payements last week are involved in businesses across the board, including banking, publishing, railroad equipment, electric utilities and direct marketing.

To assist those investors looking for higher-yielding market plays, Stockpickr has put together the Top Dividend-Increasers for the Week Ending 2-2-08.

One of the biggest dividend raises last week came from credit card and banking company Capital One Financial(COF Quote), which increased its quarterly dividend to 37.5 cents a share from 2.7 cents. In addition to the dividend increase, the company's board approved a $2 billion share-buyback plan. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12, a P/E-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 0.7 and a yield of 2.6%.

Capital One stock is owned by Ronald Muhlenkamp, manager of Muhlenkamp & Company. which has outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 10 years. Other stocks he likes include Cemex(CX Quote), which pays 2.7%, Merrill Lynch(MER Quote), which yields 2.4%, and ConocoPhillips(COP Quote), which yields 2%.

Fluor(FLR Quote) also boosted its quarterly dividend, raising its payout by 25% to 25 cents a share. This engineering and construction company will post earnings results later this month and has scheduled its earnings call for Thursday, Feb. 28. Flour has a P/E of 28, a PEG of 1.8 and a yield of 0.8%.

Flour shows up in the portfolio of the CGM Focus Fund, which is rated five starts by Morningstar. It also holds Companhia Vale do Rio Doce(RIO Quote), which yields 1%, Cnooc(CEO Quote), which yields 2.2%, and Vimpel-Communications(VIP Quote), which pays 0.8%.

GATX(GTX Quote) also increased its dividend, boosting the quarterly payment by 12.5% to 27 cents a share. The railroad leasing company recently reported adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 62 cents a share, up from 51 cents for the same quarter last year. The stock has a P/E of 10, a PEG of 0.9 and a yield of 2.8%.

GATX shares are owned by the Lord Abbett Small-Cap Value Fund, another five-star fund, which invests at least 80% of its assets in Russell 2000 Index stocks. It also owns PNM Resources(PNM Quote), which yields 4.8%, Curtiss-Wright(CW Quote), which yields 0.8%, and Quanex(NX Quote), which pays 1.1%.

To see the complete list of 10 stocks, check out the Top Dividend-Increasers for the Week Ending 2-2-08 at Stockpickr.com.