Dividend Increases, January 2-16, 2015

I have a watch list of dividend growth stocks that I monitor for dividend increase announcements. The watch list contains a subset of David Fish's CCC list and my DivGro holdings. I monitor dividend increases to identify dividend growth candidates worthy of consideration. Companies that increase dividends regularly show confidence in their future earnings growth potential.

In the first few weeks of 2015, the following stocks in my watch list announced dividend increases. None of these are DivGro holdings.  The table is sorted by last column, %Increase, and dividends are annualized:

Dividend Increases: January 2-16, 2015

Company	Ticker	Yield	Price (16 Jan)	Yrs	5-yr DGR	PEG ratio	Prev. Div.	New Div.	%Incr.
BlackRock Inc	BLK	2.51%	$348.07	5	19.9%	1.42	7.72	8.72	+12.95
Fastenal Company	FAST	2.48%	$45.25	15	22.7%	1.98	1.00	1.12	+12.00
Alliant Energy Corp	LNT	3.16%	$69.60	11	6.3%	3.83	2.04	2.20	+7.84
Consolidated Edison	ED	3.76%	$69.10	40	1.3%	6.56	2.52	2.60	+3.17
Genesis Energy LP	GEL	5.46%	$43.55	11	10.3%	2.93	2.32	2.38	+2.59
ONEOK Inc	OKE	5.64%	$42.89	12	24.3%	5.53	2.36	2.42	+2.54
ONEOK Partners LP	OKS	7.66%	$41.25	9	6.8%	2.69	3.10	3.16	+1.94
Omega Healthcare Investors	OHI	4.81%	$44.07	12	11.0%	11.63	2.08	2.12	+1.92
Teekay LNG Partners LP	TGP	6.99%	$40.08	10	3.9%	3.41	2.77	2.80	+1.19

Previous post: Dividend Increases: December 8-31, 2014

In the table, Yield indicates the new dividend yield for the market close Price on 01/16/2015. 5-yr DGR is the compound annual growth rate of the dividend over a five year period. PEG ratio is the Price/Earnings to Growth ratio, or P/E divided by the 5-year future growth rate.

• BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)
Headquartered in New York City, BLK is one of the largest investment management firms in the United States. The company offers a variety of investment and risk management services to institutional and individual investors in the U.S. and internationally. Products offered include separate accounts, mutual funds, iShares® (exchange-traded funds), and other pooled investment vehicles. BLK's board of directors declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to 218¢ per share, an increase of 12.95%. The dividend record date is 4 March and the dividend will be paid on 24 March.

• Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)
FAST sells industrial and construction supplies grouped into eleven different product lines. The company distributes the supplies through a network of approximately 2,600 company-owned stores. Most of its customers are in the manufacturing and non-residential construction markets. Fastenal began paying annual dividends in 1991, semi-annual dividends in 2003, and then expanded to quarterly dividends in 2011. FAST's board of directors approved an increase in its quarterly dividend to 28¢ per share, an increase of 12.00%. The dividend is payable on 27 February, to shareholders of record on 30 January.

• Alliant Energy Corp (NYSE:LNT)
Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, LNT operates as a regulated investor-owned public utility holding company. LNT provides electricity and natural gas services to customers in the U.S. Midwest through its two subsidiaries, Interstate Power and Light Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company. Alliant Energy Resources, Inc, is the parent company of LNT's non-regulated businesses. It has operations throughout the United States as well as in Australia, Brazil, China, Mexico and New Zealand. On Friday, 16 January, the company increased its quarterly dividend to 55¢ per share. The dividend is payable on 13 February to shareholders of record on 30 January.

• Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED)
ED is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $41 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through regulated utility subsidiaries and commercial energy supply and services companies. Recently, ED increased its quarterly dividend to 65¢ per share, to be paid on 15 March, to shareholders of record on 18 February. The dividend increase is 3.17%.

• Genesis Energy LP (NYSE:GEL)
GEL is a diversified midstream energy master limited partnership headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company is focused on the midstream segment of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, primarily Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Wyoming and the Gulf of Mexico. It operates crude oil common carrier pipelines and is an independent gatherer and marketer of crude oil in North America. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 2.59%, from 58¢ per share to 59.5¢ per share. The dividend is payable on 13 February, to shareholders of record on 2 February.

• ONEOK Inc (NYSE:OKE)
OKE is a diversified energy company and the general partner of ONEOK Partners LP, in which it holds an interest of 38.3% as of 30 September 2014. OKE is engaged in several aspects of the energy business. The company purchases, gathers, compresses, transports, stores, and distributes natural gas. It also leases pipeline capacity to others. The company drills for and produces oil and gas, extracts and sells natural gas liquids, and is engaged in the gas marketing business. OKE will pay a quarterly dividend of 60.5¢ per share on 13 February to shareholders of record on 30 January.

• ONEOK Partners LP (NYSE:OKS)
OKS is one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships in the United States and is engaged in gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the United States. The company owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. OKS has increased its distribution by 98 percent since April 2006, when a wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc became the sole general partner. The company declared a quarterly dividend of 79¢ per share, an increase of 1.94% over the prior quarterly dividend. The dividend is payable 13 February to shareholders of record on 30 January.

• Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI)
OHI is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in income-producing healthcare facilities, principally long-term care facilities located throughout the United States. The company provides lease or mortgage financing to healthcare operating companies, funding these investments through loans under its revolving credit facilities, from private or public offerings of debt or equity securities, or through secured indebtedness. The company increased its quarterly dividend by 1.92%, from 52¢ per share to 53¢ per share. The dividend is payable on 16 February, to shareholders of record on 2 February.

• Teekay LNG Partners LP (NYSE:TGP)
Headquartered in Bermuda, TGP is an international provider of marine transportation services for liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and crude oil. Services are provided under long-term, fixed-rate contracts with major energy and utility companies through its fleet of LNG and LPG/multigas carriers as well as conventional crude oil tankers. TGP is a publicly-traded master limited partnership (MLP). TGP will pay a quarterly dividend of 70¢ per share on 13 February to shareholders of record on 15 January.

Please note that I'm not recommending these stocks. Readers should do their own research on these companies before buying shares.