By Stockpickr Staff
Posted on June 4, 2009

According to David Peltier, portfolio manager of the Dividend Stock Advisor, dividend increases can perk up your portfolio. If a company consistently increases its dividend over the long term, for example, the stock price inevitably will rise as well.

With this in mind, Stockpickr has combed through the recent dividend declarations and compiled a portfolio of the top dividend-raisers for the week.

H. J. Heinz (HNZ) boosted its dividend last week by 1.2%, from 41.5 cents to 42 cents per quarter, for all shareholders of record as of June 24, payable on July 10. This gives the stock a yield of 4.5%.

Heinz's quarterly earnings went the other direction, dropping 10% to 55 cents per share for the quarter ended April 30, down from 61 cents per share for the previous year, about in line with analyst expectations. Heinz's net income of $923 million is more than enough to cover its $528.6 million in dividend payouts. The company has $5.53 billion in debt and $690 million in cash.

Heinz is owned by money manager Navellier & Associates, a $3.4 billion fund founded in 1980 and run by Louis Navellier. Navellier looks for stocks that should contribute significantly to overall portfolio outperformance against relative benchmarks. Other stocks it owns include Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which has a 2.2% yield; General Mills (GIS), with a 3.3% yield; and CSX (CSX), with a 2.6% yield.

Bakery company Flowers Foods (FLO) was another dividend-raiser, announcing that it is increasing its quarterly payout by 17%, from 17.5 cents per quarter up from 15 cents a quarter, providing a yield of 3.2%. The dividend is payable July 2 to shareholders of record as of June 19.

The company recently announced that its earnings increased by about 5% to 40 cents per share for the quarter ending April 25, up from 39 cents per share for the same quarter last year. This was on a revenue increase of 19%, primarily due to the fact that less people are eating out and staying home for meals. Flowers Foods' dividend payout of $55.8 million is exceeded by its operating income of $91.6 million. It has $18.5 million in cash and $272 million in total debt.

Flowers is favored by John Keeley, president and chief investment officer at Keeley Asset Management, which has $9 billion under management. He also likes Walter Energy (WLT), with a 1.2% yield; Robbins & Myers (RBN), which has a 0.7% yield; and Bucyrus International (BUCY), with a 0.3% yield.

For more ideas, check out the dividend-raisers for the week portfolio at Stockpickr.com.

Author had no positions in stocks mentioned.