Top Dividend Stocks of the Week
Updated from 7:00 a.m. EDT
Last week was a positive one for the stock market, the
Dow Jones Industrial Averages
finished up 1.3%, the
Nasdaq
ended 2.2% higher, the
S&P
added 1.3%, and many companies raised their dividends.
Stockpickr has reviewed the companies that declared dividends last week and compiled a list of the
Top Dividend Increasers for the Week
.
One of last week's didvidend increases came from
Occidental Petroleum
(OXY) - Get Report
, which declared a 32-cent quarterly dividend. This payment works out to an annual dividend of $1.28, a 28% boost from its previous $1 payout rate.
This multinational oil and gas company recently reported a
solid first-quarter earnings beat
. The stock has a price-to-earnings ratio of 12, a P/E-to-growth ratio of 0.9 and a 1.2% yield.
Occidental stock is owned by the
Al Frank Asset Management Fund
, a deep value mutual fund with $280 million under management. The fund also owns shares of
UnitedHealth Group
, which has a 0.1% yield,
Archer Daniels Midland
(ADM) - Get Report
, which has a 1.2% yield, and
CSX
(CSX) - Get Report
, which sprots a 1.1% yield.
Another dividend increase last week came from
Marriott International
(MAR) - Get Report
, which upped its quarterly payout by 17% to 8.75 cents a share. The company last month posted a decline in first-quarter earnings that nonetheless were
in-line with Wall Street targets
. The stock has a P/E of 22, a PEG of 1.4 and a yield of 0.8%.
is a hedge fund invested in Marriott shares. This $20 billion fund, managed by Bruce Kovner, also owns shares of
Trane
(TT)
, which yields 1.4%,
Loews
(LTR)
, with a 0.6% yield, and
Tesoro
(TSO)
, with a 1.5% yield.
Property and casualty insurance company
RLI
(RLI) - Get Report
increased its quarterly dividend by 9% to 25 cents a share. The company last month reported first-quarter earnings results that fell shy of Wall Street expectations by 3 cents a share. The stock has a P/E of 7, a PEG of 1.1 and a yield of 1.8%.
RLI shows up in the Stockpickr portfolio called
Barron's Insider Purchases April 26, 2008
. Other stocks in this recent list include
Zumiez
(ZUMZ) - Get Report
and
AutoZone
(AZO) - Get Report
.
For more newly raised dividend plays, check out the
Top Dividend-Raisers for the Week Ending May 2
at Stockpickr.com.
At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.
James Altucher is president of
LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for the
Financial Times
and the author of
Trade Like a Hedge Fund
,
Trade Like Warren Buffett
and
SuperCa$h
. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback;
to send him an email.
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