Dividend Increases, April 16-30, 2014

Last month, several stocks in my watch list announced dividend increases. I own shares in no fewer than 6 of these stocks! While ETP's increase is quite small at 1.63%, the other increases vary between 4.76% (APU) and 10% (TRV). Any dividend increase above 7% is great in my mind, as that certainly beats inflation and, therefore, represents real growth.

The reason I compile this information is to monitor dividend increases for stocks I own in DivGro so I can make yield on cost (YoC) adjustments and properly track DivGro's projected annual dividend income. Another reason is to review dividend increases for stocks in my watch list that I don't own, to see if any interesting candidates present themselves.

Below is the table of dividend increases announced in the last two weeks of April, sorted by the last column, %Increase. Dividend amounts are annualized.

Dividend Increases: Apr 16 - Apr 30, 2014

Company	Ticker	Price (May 2)	Previous Dividend	New Dividend	Current Yield	%Increase
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc	CBRL	96.92	3.00	4.00	4.13%	+33.33
International Business Machines Corp.	IBM	191.44	3.80	4.40	2.30%	+15.79
Principal Financial Group Inc	PFG	46.65	1.12	1.28	2.74%	+14.29
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.	AMP	112.34	2.08	2.32	2.07%	+11.54
American Water Works Company Inc	AWK	46.17	1.12	1.24	2.69%	+10.71
Travelers Companies Inc	TRV	91.00	2.00	2.20	2.42%	+10.00
The Gap Inc.	GPS	39.28	0.80	0.88	2.24%	+10.00
Exxon Mobil Corporation	XOM	102.01	2.52	2.76	2.71%	+9.52
Chevron Corporation	CVX	124.72	4.00	4.28	3.43%	+7.00
Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	99.31	2.64	2.80	2.82%	+6.06
AmeriGas Partners, L.P.	APU	46.49	3.36	3.52	7.57%	+4.76
Alliance Holdings GP, L.P.	AHGP	66.44	3.31	3.39	5.10%	+2.42
Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.	ARLP	93.88	4.79	4.89	5.21%	+2.09
Oneok Partners LP	OKS	56.62	2.92	2.98	5.26%	+2.05
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc	OHI	35.23	1.96	2.00	5.68%	+2.04
Energy Transfer Partners LP	ETP	56.00	3.68	3.74	6.68%	+1.63
Holly Energy Partners, L.P.	HEP	34.18	2.00	2.03	5.94%	+1.50
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP	KMP	75.32	5.44	5.52	7.33%	+1.47
Williams Partners L.P.	WPZ	52.13	3.57	3.62	6.94%	+1.34
Exterran Partners, L.P.	EXLP	29.39	2.13	2.15	7.32%	+0.94

Previous post: Dividend Increases: Apr 1 - Apr 15, 2014

I own shares in the highlighted stocks:

• Travelers Companies (TRV) | growth 9 yrs | yield 2.20% @ $91.00 | 5-yr CAGR 10.5%

TRV provides property and casualty insurance products and services to clients in the United States. The company declared a new dividend of 55¢ per share, payable on June 30 to shareholders on record as of June 10. The new quarterly dividend represents an increase of 10%, raising DivGro's projected annual dividend income by $5.80.

• Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) | growth 31 yrs | yield 2.47% @ $102.01 | 5-yr CAGR 9.7%

XOM is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. Its new quarterly dividend of 69¢ per share is payable on June 10 to shareholders of record on May 9. The increase adds $7.20 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income.

• Chevron Corporation (CVX) | growth 26 yrs | yield 3.21% @ $124.72 | 5-yr CAGR 9.0%
Founded in 1984, CVX is a multinational energy corporation with headquarters in San Ramon, California. The company recently increased its quarterly dividend by 7¢ to $1.07 per share, payable on June 10 to shareholders on record as of May 15. The increase adds $7.00 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income. 

• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | growth 51 yrs | yield 2.66% @ $99.31 | 5-yr CAGR 7.6%
JNJ is a leader in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer products industries. The company raised its quarterly dividend to 70¢ per share, an increase of just over 6%. The new dividend is payable on June 10 to shareholders of record on May 22. It raises DivGro's projected annual dividend income by $4.80.

• Amerigas Partners, L.P. (APU) | growth 9 yrs | yield 7.23% @ $46.49 | 5-yr CAGR 5.6%
APU is a publicly traded master limited partnership and the largest U.S. retail propane distributor. The board of directors recently approved a distribution increase of 4.76%. Unit holders of record on May 7 will receive a distribution of 88¢ per unit, payable on May 19. The increase adds $19.20 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income. 

• Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) | growth 1 yr | yield 6.68% @ $56.00 | 5-yr CAGR n/a
ETP is a master limited partnership that owns and operates natural gas and NGL pipelines, natural gas storage and distributions terminals, and natural gas processing facilities. ETP's new distribution is 93.7¢ per unit, payable on May 15 to unit holders of record on May 1. The increase adds $6.00 to DivGro's projected annual dividend income. 

Of the stocks in my watch list that I don't own, several increased their yields by more than 7%:

• Cracker Barrel (CBRL) | growth 11 yrs | yield 3.10% @ $96.92 | 5-yr CAGR 27.6%
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) operates more than 600 stores located in 42 states. CBRL is engaged in the operation and development of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® concept.

• Intl Business Machines (IBM) | growth 18 yrs | yield 1.98% @ $191.44 | 5-yr CAGR 14.3%
IBM is an information technology company that operates in five segments: Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Business Services (GBS), Software, Systems and Technology and Global Financing. 

• Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG) | growth 6 yrs | yield 2.40% @ $46.65 | 5-yr CAGR 16.8%
PFG  is a leading global financial company offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services.

• Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP) | growth 9 yrs | yield 1.85% @ $112.34 | 5-yr CAGR 24.9%

Founded in 1894 by John Tappan, AMP is America's leader in financial planning and a leading global financial institution, with more than $655 billion in assets under management and administration. 

• American Water Works Co Inc (AWK) | growth 6 yrs | yield 2.43% @ $46.17 | 5-yr CAGR 22.2%

AWK provides drinking water, wastewater and other water related services to approximately 15 million people in more than 30 states and in two Canadian provinces. 

• The Gap Inc. (GPS) | growth 10 yrs | yield 2.24% @ $39.28 | 5-yr CAGR 13.3%
GPS is a global specialty apparel company offering apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athena brands. 

I'm not recommending any of these stocks and I encourage readers to do their own research before buying shares. 

Full Disclosure: Long APU, CVX, ETP, JNJ, TRV, XOM

Do you own any of the stocks mentioned or plan on buying shares?