These days, when looking for dividend-increasers, you are lucky to find so much as dividend announcements, since the number of companies cutting and eliminating dividends continues to multiply.
David Peltier, portfolio manager for TheStreet.com's Dividend Stocks Advisor, recommends finding safe dividend stocks. And what better indicator of financial strength than a raised dividend.
Stockpickr has reviewed the companies that declared dividends last week and compiled a list of dividend stocks for the week.
Robbins & Myers (RBN) is one of the companies that made the grade during the week, bumping up its dividend from 3.75 cents per share to 4 cents per share, an increase of 6.7%. The 0.8%-yielding dividend is payable on Feb. 20 to shareholders of record on Jan. 23.
Robbins & Myers makes and sells equipment and systems used in oil and gas exploration, as well as storage vessels for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical markets. According to the company's management, “our Board believes that at current prices and historically low valuations, repurchasing our own shares is also an attractive means of enhancing shareholder value.”
The stock has a P/E ratio of 7, which is better than the diversified machinery industry average of 10. It was one of James Altucher's Rocket Stocks picks last week, and this week he recommends starting a new position on a pullback to the mid-$17s.
Robbins & Myers is held by Keeley Asset Management, founded in 1982 and managed by John L. Keeley, Jr., president and CIO. Keeley has about $9 billion under management. Other holdings include Walter Industries, (WLT) with a 1.7% yield; Bucyrus International, (BUCY) with a 0.5% yield; and Flowers Foods (FLO), with a 2.7% yield.
Another dividend0raiser is Pentair (PNR), which boosted its quarterly dividend by 5.9%, from 17 cents to 18 cents a share, in the company's 33rd consecutive annual dividend increase. The dividend is payable in the first quarter of 2009, generating a yield of 2.7%. The company, which makes products and systems that are used in the movement, storage, and treatment of water, has its earnings call scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 3. It announced last month that it would be eliminating 10% of its employees. It has a P/E ratio of 9.
Pentair is part of the PowerShares Water Resources ETF, which tracks the Palisades Water index, which includes common stocks of companies in the water industry. Other stocks in the ETF include Valmont Industries (VMI), with a yield of 0.8%; Watts Water Technologies (WTS), with a 1.7% yield; and Veolia Environnement (VE), with a 6.4% yiled based on the previous annual payment.
For more ideas, check out the dividend-increasers portfolio on Stockpickr.
Posted on Jan. 11, 2009
