Dividend Increases, May 1-16, 2014

Every two weeks I report on dividend increases announced for stocks in my watch list, mainly to see if any of my DivGro stocks have raised their dividends. When that happens, I make yield on cost (YoC) adjustments and recalculate DivGro's projected annual dividend income. Another reason is to review dividend increases for stocks I don't own to see if some likely candidates present themselves.

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

Dividend Increases: May 1 - May 16, 2014

Company	Ticker	Price (May 16)	Previous Dividend	New Dividend	Current Yield	%Increase
Safeway Inc.	SWY	34.45	0.80	0.92	2.67%	+15.00
Airgas, Inc.	ARG	106.57	1.92	2.20	2.06%	+14.58
Cardinal Health Inc	CAH	65.75	1.21	1.37	2.08%	+13.22
Southwest Gas Corporation	SWX	52.94	1.32	1.46	2.76%	+10.61
Time Warner Inc	TWX	68.89	1.15	1.27	1.84%	+10.43
Assurant, Inc.	AIZ	66.53	1.00	1.08	1.62%	+8.00
Expeditors Intl. of Washington	EXPD	46.26	0.60	0.64	1.38%	+6.67
Baxter International Inc.	BAX	74.64	1.96	2.08	2.79%	+6.12
Southside Bancshares, Inc.	SBSI	25.94	0.80	0.84	3.24%	+5.00
The Clorox Co	CLX	88.65	2.84	2.96	3.34%	+4.23
ACE Limited	ACE	102.46	2.52	2.60	2.54%	+3.17
NACCO Industries, Inc.	NC	53.14	1.00	1.03	1.94%	+3.00
Buckeye Partners, L.P.	BPL	78.73	4.35	4.40	5.59%	+1.15

Previous post: Dividend Increases: Apr 16 - Apr 30, 2014

I own shares in the highlighted stocks:

• Baxter International Inc. (BAX) | growth 7 yrs | yield 2.79% @ $74.64 | 5-yr CAGR 16.4%

As a global, diversified healthcare company, BAX is engaged in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide. The board of directors of BAX recently declared a quarterly dividend of 52¢ per share, an increase of 6.12%. The dividend is payable on July 1, to stockholders of record on June 4. Since 2008, BAX has more than doubled its dividend, returning more than $4.5b to shareholders. The increase raises DivGro's projected annual dividend income by $4.44.

• ACE Limited (ACE) | growth 22 yrs | yield 2.54% @ $102.46 | 5-yr CAGR 12.9%

ACE is one of the world's largest multiline property and casualty insurers, with operations in 54 countries. On May 15, the company announced a 3.17% increase in its quarterly dividend, from 63¢ per share to 65¢ per share. The dividend is payable on August 13, to stockholders of record on June 21. This increase follows a 24% increase in the quarterly dividend approved in January this year. The increase raises DivGro's projected annual dividend income by $1.92 to $4,289.59.

Several increases announced in this period top 7%:

• Safeway Inc. (SWY) | growth 9 yrs | yield 2.67% @ $34.45 | 5-yr CAGR 19.9%
SWY is one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America. On May 14, the board of directors approved an increase to its regular quarterly dividend from 20¢ per share to 23¢ per share, an increase of 15%. The first payment will be on July 10, to stockholders of record on June 19. 

• Airgas, Inc. (ARG) | growth 11 yrs | yield 2.06% @ $106.57 | 5-yr CAGR 28.8%
Founded in 1982, ARG is one of the nation's leading suppliers of industrial, medical and specialty gases as well as welding equipment and related products. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 14.58%, from 48¢ per share to 55¢ per share. The dividend is payable on June 30, to shareholders of record on June 13. 

• Cardinal Health Inc (CAH) | growth 17 yrs | yield 2.08% @ $65.75 | 5-yr CAGR 25.3%
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, CAH is a healthcare services company providing pharmaceutical and medical products and services. The company's board of directors approved an increase in the quarterly dividend of 13.22% to 34.25¢ a share. The dividend is payable on July 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 1. 

• Southwest Gas Corporation (SWX) | growth 8 yrs | yield 2.76% @ $52.94 | 5-yr CAGR 7.6%
SWX provides natural gas service to nearly 2 million customers in Arizona, Nevada and California. On May 7, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 36.5¢ per share, payable on September 2 to shareholders of record on August 15. The new dividend represents an increase of 10.61%.

• Time Warner Inc (TWX) | growth 5 yrs | yield 1.84% @ $68.89 | 5-yr CAGR 8.9%
TWX is a media and entertainment company, which operates in three reporting segments, Networks, Film and TV Entertainment, and Publishing. The company announced a quarterly dividend increase of 10.43% to 31.75¢ per share, payable on June 6 to shareholders of record on May 23. 

• Assurant, Inc. (AIZ) | growth 10 yrs | yield 1.62% @ $66.53 | 5-yr CAGR 12.2%
AIZ is a provider of specialized insurance-related products and services in North America and select worldwide markets. The board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of 27¢ per share, payable on June 10 to stockholders of record on May 27. The new dividend is 8% above the prior dividend of 25¢ per share.

I'm not recommending these stocks. Readers should do their own research before buying shares. 

Thanks for reading! Do you own shares of any of these companies (or do you plan to buy shares)?