More Than 500 Dividend Increases in 2017

I monitor dividend increases for stocks on my watch list of dividend growth stocks to identify candidates for further analysis. Companies can only increase their dividends regularly if earnings grow sufficiently.

In 2017, I reported on more than 500 dividend increases from companies on my watch list. Exactly 497 companies on my watch list increased their dividends, but 42 stocks increased their dividend more than once in 2017, so the number of increases tops 500.

This article provides a summary of the dividend increases in 2017. I share the average dividend increase and identify the top increases, overall and by sector.

The top increase is from Lear (LEA) with a 67% increase. Founded in 1917 and headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, LEA is a supplier to the global automotive industry. The stock yields 1.13%.

The runner-up is SunTrust Banks (STI), a diversified financial services company based in Atlanta, Georgia. STI announced a 54% increase and the stock yields 2.48%.

For more detail and to see the average dividend increase of 2017, please read this article at Seeking Alpha.

---

Please feel free to leave comments on this article either at Seeking Alpha or here, on my blog. I'll do my best to respond to each comment as quickly as possible.