Fewer Companies Are Raising Dividends

Corporate earnings still are rising sharply, but companies’ willingness to share that cash with shareholders via dividends continues to decline.

A total of 115 companies raised their cash dividends during May, Standard & Poor’s said. That was down from 135 in May 1999 and 169 in May 1998.

“It’s a clear-cut trend,” said Arnold Kaufman, editor of S&P;’s Outlook newsletter in New York.

Meanwhile, S&P; also found that 21 companies omitted their dividend entirely in May, up from four omissions in May 1999 and the highest total since September 1991. But analysts said the figure could be a short-term anomaly.

“It does seem like a large number, but I’m at a bit of a loss” to explain it, Kaufman said.