5 Household-Name Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends

Stanley Black & Decker

Father's day is just a few days away, and tool ads seem to be everywhere. That's a good thing for tool giant Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) -- the firm's primary business is making construction tools for professionals and do-it-yourselfers, with a security device business rounding out SWK's offerings.

The 2010 merger of Stanley and Black & Decker created a massive force in tools, one that should continue to squeeze efficiency out of its combined operations as merger costs stop flowing to the income statement and redundancies slowly disappear. By the end of next year, those savings should approach $400 million, making way for a material improvement in profitability. As the North American construction and DIY market slowly warms back up, international growth is going to be a key growth avenue to target for SWK.

Ample free cash flow generation should help to boost the firm's 41-cent dividend in the next quarter; SWK has kept its payouts flat for the last six quarters, so it's due for a dividend hike. That would mean a boost to SWK's 2.64% yield in 2012.

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