The king of clean is putting a shine on its dividend for the 32nd year in a row. Venerable household-products company Clorox (CLX) enhanced its quarterly common payout last Tuesday by 15%, to 46 cents a share from 40 cents. Disbursement is slated for Aug. 15 to holders of record July 28. The stock will go ex-dividend July 24. Payouts have been made without interruption since 1968.

Also in the golden state, grocery giant Safeway (SWY) sweetened its common dividend by 20%. The new quarterly will be 8.28 cents a share, up from 6.9 cents. The payment date is July 17 for stockholders of record June 26. Ex-date: June 24. Dividends were initiated in 2005 and have been growing annually. In addition, Safeway directors increased the company's stock-buyback program by $1 billion, to a total of $5 billion. As of March 31, Safeway had repurchased approximately $3.55 billion worth of its shares.