Top Dividend Stocks of the Week

Updated from 6:29 a.m. EDT

With major bank dividend cuts or eliminations looming on the horizon, it is interesting to note that there are still plenty of companies who are increasing their dividends. Stockpickr reviewed the dividend declarations for last week and came up with a list of the top dividend raisers of the week.

One of the stocks with the biggest dividend increase is Monsanto(MON Quote - Cramer on MON - Stock Picks), which boosted its quarterly dividend by a big 37%. This agricultural products company is expanding into Central America by agreeing to take over Guatemala based Marmot S.A., which is a large Central American corn seed company. The stock has a P/E of 45, a PEG of 1.12, and a yield of 0.7%.

Monsanto is owned by the Hancock Horizon Value Trust, a 5-star Morningstar-rated fund, managed by David Lundgren. The fund has had an average annual return of 18.35% over the last five years. Hancock also owns Precision Castparts(PCP Quote - Cramer on PCP - Stock Picks), with a yield of 0.1%; Cummins(CMI Quote - Cramer on CMI - Stock Picks), with a yield of 0.7%; and Nucor(NUE Quote - Cramer on NUE - Stock Picks), with a yield of 1.7%.

Another stock which raised its dividend is John Wiley & Sons(JW-A Quote - Cramer on JW-A - Stock Picks), the publisher of the For Dummies series of books along with numerous other types of books and publications. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 18% to 13 cents per share. This is its 15th consecutive annual dividend increase. It just reported that its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled. The stock has a P/E of 22, and a yield of 1.1%.

Wiley shows up in the Stockpickr portfolio called Bruce Sherman - Private Capital, a portfolio manager that has been in business since 1986. The company has had an average annual return of 20% since inception. It also owns CA(CA Quote - Cramer on CA - Stock Picks), which yields 0.7%; Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote - Cramer on HPQ - Stock Picks), which also yields 0.7%; and Royal Caribbean Cruises(RCL Quote - Cramer on RCL - Stock Picks), which yields 2.4%.

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