Dollar General and 5 More Companies That Raised Their Stock Dividends This Week

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Dollar General

and

Applied Materials

were among the large U.S. companies that announced dividend increases this week.

Dollar General (ticker: DG), a large discount retailer, said it plans to boost its quarterly disbursement to 59 cents a share, up 7% from 55 cents.

The stock, which yields 1.1%, has a one-year return of about 1%, including dividends, compared with minus 7.5% for the

S&P 500
.

Applied Materials (AMAT) said it plans to boost its quarterly dividend to 32 cents a share from 26 cents, an increase of 23%. The chip equipment maker’s stock, which has a one-year return of minus 5%, yields 1%.

TE Connectivity

(TEL) said it will raise its quarterly payout by three cents a share to 59 cents. The stock, which yields 1.9%, has a one-year return of minus 3%. The company’s products include sensors, antennas, and connectors.

Elsewhere, three real estate industrial trusts—

Realty Income

(O),

Equity Residential

(EQR), and

UDR

(UDR) said they plan to boost their dividends.

Realty Income declared a monthly dividend of 25.5 cents a share, up from 25.45 cents. The stock, which yields 5%, has a one-year return of minus 0.5%.

Equity Residential said it plans to raise its quarterly dividend to 66.25 cents a share from 62.5 cents a share for a 6% increase. The stock, which has a one-year return of minus 31%, yields 4.3%.

UDR declared a quarterly dividend of 42 cents a share, up from 38 cents a share, for a 10.5% hike. The stock, which yields 3.9%, has a one-year return of minus 27%.

Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]