The world's fifth-largest defense contractor, whose specialty is high-tech missiles and electronics, will pay a new quarterly of 28 cents a common share, up from 25.5 cents. Yield: 1.73%. Disbursement is scheduled for April 29 to investors on Raytheon's roster April 1. The stock went ex-dividend March 28. As detailed in this space March 10, rival General Dynamics (GD) has enriched its quarterly 20.7%. "This dividend increase reflects our continued strong financial performance and our ongoing commitment to provide value to our shareholders," said Raytheon CEO William H. Swanson. The 86-year-old Waltham, Mass., company has paid dividends without interruption since 1964. Payouts resumed their climb in 2005, after having been stuck at 20 cents a share since 1996.

Aircastle will pay a dividend of 25 cents a share, down from 70 cents. Payment will go out April 15 to holders of record March 31. The ex-date was March 27. The company announced in February that fourth-quarter sales had more than doubled. Earnings, however, were four cents below analysts' 50-cent estimate. Wainshal called the results "outstanding," but the stock nose-dived to 19 on the news. Friday, as of this writing, the shares, which yield 8.74%, were trading at a 52-week Big Board low of 11.35. The 52-week high is 41.31. Earlier in the week, Goldman Sachs downgraded its investment opinion on Aircastle to Neutral/Cautious from Buy/Cautious. Headquartered in Stamford, Conn., four-year-old Aircastle leases jets to passenger and cargo airlines worldwide and makes aviation investments. As of Feb. 29, it had acquired aviation assets worth $4.1 billion and committed to acquire an additional $1.5 billion worth. Wainshal recently said that "demand for aviation assets remains strong, notwithstanding the financial-market issues." He thinks that many airlines may turn to leasing because "there really seems to be a nervousness" about ordering anything new.