Earnings of the S&P; 500 companies rose...

Earnings of the S&P; 500 companies rose 40% last year, but shareholders got dividend increases of only 11%, Standard & Poor’s Corp. said. Companies harbored cash because, even though they are racking up healthy profits, “they are well aware that the 6-year-old economic expansion is due for a reverse,” the credit-rating agency said. Although the dividend increase was only a quarter of the profit increase, the 11% increase was still the biggest since 1979, Standard & Poor’s said. Among all U.S. companies, a total of 1,705 dividend increases were reported in 1988 to S&P;’s, up 7% from the 1,590 reported in 1987.