Dividend Stocks: Kellogg, Digital Realty

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Earnings season has brought dividend increases back in a big way during the last two weeks, ending the dry spell in July that previously had investors seeing only a handful of dividend hikes for the month. But we're far from back to normal on the dividend front.

Despite a good number of companies increasing their payouts to shareholders this quarter, increasing management anxiety over the state of the economy has held the number of increase announcements well below the numbers we saw earlier in the year. For now, we'll have to wait and see whether more companies are willing to foot the bill for increased dividends as earnings season progresses.

So why the big deal about dividends?

Historically, dividend stocks are a good place to be. Over the last 36 years, dividend stocks outperformed the rest of the S&P 500 by 2.5% annually, and they outperformed nonpayers by nearly 8% each and every year, all while paying out cash to their shareholders, according to a study from NDR. And right now, companies that are willing to part with cash in arguably tough times are worth a second look.

Here's a look at this week's dividend increasers.

More on Dividends   10 High-Yield Large-Caps   10 Dividend Aristocrats

Tweet