What a month it has been for dividend increases! Each month, I highlight the companies that are expected to announce a dividend increase in the coming month. For the first time, I am speechless. In January, I highlighted three companies that were expected to increase their dividend in the coming month.  But man was I blown out of the water with all of the dividend increases that were announced. February will have some tough shoes to follow! Enough talk, let’s dive right in and summarize the companies that increased their dividend in January and which companies are expected to announce a dividend increase in February.

Actual Dividend Increases in January

I mentioned this was an exciting month of dividend increases.  I am going to do my best to summarize the increases from the past month; however, if I miss one, please let me know and tell me about the increase in the comments section of the article!

• Consolidated Edison (ED) – One of our favorite foundation dividend stocks. Luckily for me, I am a shareholder of the electric utility while Lanny jealously watches from the sidelines. Well, this month, ED announced a 3.62% increase in their quarterly dividend. The increase may not seem like a lot, but it was higher than their five-year average dividend growth rate entering January.
• Kimberly-Clark Corp (KMB) –  The consumer staple, much like ED, announced a 3% increase in their quarterly dividend in January.  But unlike ED, this was below their five-year average growth rate entering this month. I’m a little surprised this amount wasn’t larger given some of the other dividend increases announced this month
• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc (APD) –  Here we go, now this is what we are talking about. APD announced a 15.8% increase in their quarterly dividend this month.  This is great for a company that has a yield in the low 2% range. This was just the start of a trend of companies that announced a double-digit dividend increase here in January.
• Bonus Company #1:  Intel Corporation (INTC) – After a long twelve-hour day at work, Lanny and I decided to head home tired and exhausted. Then, I received this phone call from him and he could barely hold back his excitement. He said (yes this is the PG-13 version) “Holy cow Bert, you’ll never believe this. Intel just announced a 10% increase in their quarterly dividend.” This is great news for all of their shareholders. The best part was, this was just one of many similar conversations that occurred in January.
• Bonus Company #2: Norfolk-Southern Corp (NSC) – If I thought Lanny was excited to tell me about a 10% increase in INTC’s quarterly dividend, you should have heard the excitement in his voice when he called to tell me that Norfolk-Southern announced a 18% increase in their quarterly dividend.  It has been several years since NSC increased their quarterly dividend. Lanny and I had suspected they were going to announce a dividend increase at some point in 2017 after the stock’s strong performance in January. But still, the size of the increase and the timing of the announcement caught both of us off guard! Man was this increase exciting.
• Bonus Company #3: 3M Corp (MMM) – MMM typically announces their dividend increase in February. So I was a little surprised to read about their dividend increase a few weeks early in January. Still, though, I came close to doing a few backflips when I realized MMM announced a 15.7% increase in their quarterly dividend. This has been one of my favorite stocks to own and the company continues their streak of double-digit percent increases in their dividend.
• Bonus Company #4: Realty Income (O) – Man I have written a lot about Realty Income in January, which makes sense given the fact that I purchased the company twice in January! Realty Income provided me with my first dividend increase in 2018 when the company announced a 3% increase in their monthly dividend. Man do I love owning this company and I am very excited to now own over 70 shares after both purchases. However, I am expecting this to be the first of several small dividend increases by this REIT!
• Bonus Company #5: Citizens and Northern Corp (CZNC) – Boom! Lanny and I have pretty substantial positions in this community bank stock. Once again, we were both surprised and excited to receive a dividend increase from CZNC during the month. CZNC last increased their dividend in January 2014, so this increase was over four years in the making! Interestingly, this seemed to be a trend in the banking industry as there were a ton of other community banks that increased their dividend this month.
• Bonus Company #6: Diageo Corp (DEO) – Last, but not least, Diageo. The beverages giant announced a 5% increase in their interim dividend. And you guessed it, Lanny and I both own shares of this company as well!

Expected Dividend Increases in February 2018

Phew – are you all as exhausted from the dividend increases as we are?  OF COURSE NOT! This was an exciting month to be a dividend growth investor and hopefully, this is going to set the table for a record-setting 2018. Unfortunately, this list will be one stock shorter than usual since MMM decided to increase their dividend in January.  Now, let’s see which companies are expected to announce a dividend increase here in February! Oh yeah, by the way, this list may be just as long as January’s.

• Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM) – ADM has made several appearances on my dividend stock watch lists towards the end of 2017. This Dividend Aristocrat has announced a $.02/share increase in their quarterly dividend for the last two years. I wonder if ADM will continue this trend or will shock us with a larger dividend increase.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) –  The classic, iconic beverage company is set to increase their dividend this coming month. Just like ADM, the company has increased their quarterly dividend by $.02/share over the last two years and has essential stuck to that pattern for the last five years. The company’s payout ratio is higher than the 60% threshold we use in our stock screener and barring strong earnings growth, I’ll be very interested to see the percent increase that KO announces.
• Genuine Parts Company (GPC) – Man oh man is this list getting pretty long. GPC is yet another Dividend Aristocrat that is set to increase their dividend in the coming month. GPC’s five-year average dividend growth rate is 6.42% and the company has been on a tear to start 2018.  Much like MMM, INTC, and NSC, I am predicting that GPC has a double-digit increase in their quarterly dividend coming. Let’s see if my gut feeling is right.
• T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) – Lanny and I established large positions in the debt-free, Dividend Aristocrat several years ago and the company has performed extremely well since our purchase. TROW announced a 5.5% increase in their quarterly dividend last year and similar to GPC, I have a hunch the company will announce a much larger dividend increase this year. With an increase, this will mark the 32nd consecutive year that TROW has increased their quarterly dividend!
• Walmart (WMT) – The grand finale…..Walmart. Each February, WMT announces their four quarterly dividend payments for the coming year.  Since 2014, the company has increased their quarterly dividend by only $.01/share. But this has been an exciting year for WMT in their quest to battle Amazon.

Wow. February looks like it is going to be another exciting month for dividend investors. All, I hope you are as excited and motivated to invest in dividend stocks after reading about these dividend increases. I know that the two of us are going to keep on side-hustling and scraping EVERY DOLLAR we can to continue investing and pushing our forward dividend income forward!  Let’s make 2018 special!