Investment Watch

Bigger checks are in the mail for more shareholders this year. The number of companies raising cash dividend payments, or declaring extra dividends, totaled 896 from January through April, Standard & Poor’s Corp. said. That’s up 12% from the 798 firms that raised dividends or declared extras in the same period of 1995. Companies’ willingness to share more of their earnings directly with stockholders is potentially a good sign for stocks’ bull market. Many analysts have argued that the dividend yield “cushion” supporting stocks has grown dangerously thin in recent years as companies have skimped on dividends in favor of channeling earnings into stock buybacks and capital spending.

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Investment Watch

1996: 896