Giant packaged-foods maker general mills dished up a 9% dividend boost last Monday, its largest increase in several years. "Strong and growing cash dividends are an important component of General Mills ' total return to our shareholders," declared Chief Executive Kendall J. Powell. He added that the payout enhancement reflects General Mills' "robust financial condition and excellent future-growth prospects." Powell also said, "Consumers are spending more of their food dollars for meals at home, and that trend is a tailwind for our U.S. retail and our international businesses."(Barron's wrote favorably about General Mills on April 27.) The new quarterly will be 47 cents a share, up from 43 cents, payable Aug. 3 to investors of record July 10. The stock goes ex-dividend July 8. This is General Mills' ninth payout increase in five years. Including predecessors, the Minneapolis company has paid dividends without interruption or reduction since 1898. During fiscal 2009, ended May 31, General Mills repurchased 20 million of its shares at an average price of $64 each. At a current Big Board price of 58, the new payout gives General Mills' shares (ticker: GIS) a 3.24% yield. Its 52-week range is 72.01 to 46.37. Arch rival Kellogg (K) trades near 47, pays a quarterly dividend of 34 cents and yields 2.91%.

Not much happened dividend wise in the second quarter among the 65 Dow stocks, but good news outweighed bad. Barron's statistics director Peter Miller counted four payout increases among the 30 industrials -- by ExxonMobil (XOM), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Proctor & Gamble (PG). The single dividend reduction was by Pfizer (PFE). The combined industrials paid out $66.68 in the second quarter, down 17.51% from $80.83 a year earlier, for a yield of 3.52%.

Not much happened dividend wise in the second quarter among the 65 Dow stocks, but good news outweighed bad. Barron's statistics director Peter Miller counted four payout increases among the 30 industrials -- by ExxonMobil (XOM), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Proctor & Gamble (PG). The single dividend reduction was by Pfizer (PFE). The combined industrials paid out $66.68 in the second quarter, down 17.51% from $80.83 a year earlier, for a yield of 3.52%.

Not much happened dividend wise in the second quarter among the 65 Dow stocks, but good news outweighed bad. Barron's statistics director Peter Miller counted four payout increases among the 30 industrials -- by ExxonMobil (XOM), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Proctor & Gamble (PG). The single dividend reduction was by Pfizer (PFE). The combined industrials paid out $66.68 in the second quarter, down 17.51% from $80.83 a year earlier, for a yield of 3.52%.

Not much happened dividend wise in the second quarter among the 65 Dow stocks, but good news outweighed bad. Barron's statistics director Peter Miller counted four payout increases among the 30 industrials -- by ExxonMobil (XOM), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Proctor & Gamble (PG). The single dividend reduction was by Pfizer (PFE). The combined industrials paid out $66.68 in the second quarter, down 17.51% from $80.83 a year earlier, for a yield of 3.52%.

Not much happened dividend wise in the second quarter among the 65 Dow stocks, but good news outweighed bad. Barron's statistics director Peter Miller counted four payout increases among the 30 industrials -- by ExxonMobil (XOM), International Business Machines (IBM), Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Proctor & Gamble (PG). The single dividend reduction was by Pfizer (PFE). The combined industrials paid out $66.68 in the second quarter, down 17.51% from $80.83 a year earlier, for a yield of 3.52%.

Also in the quarter, Travelers (TRV) replaced embattled Citigroup (C) in the DJIA, while Cisco Systems (CSCO) took the wheel from General Motors (GM), which last month became the second-largest industrial bankruptcy in history, after WorldCom in 2002.

Also in the quarter, Travelers (TRV) replaced embattled Citigroup (C) in the DJIA, while Cisco Systems (CSCO) took the wheel from General Motors (GM), which last month became the second-largest industrial bankruptcy in history, after WorldCom in 2002.