The following companies have announced recent dividend increases. These companies are all rated Bullish or better by their consensus equity summary score.
HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCC) announced its 66th consecutive quarterly cash dividend and the 16th consecutive year of dividend increases. HCC’ has declared a regular cash dividend of $0.165 per share, a 6.45% increase on the Company’s shares. The dividend is payable to stockholders of record on October 1, 2012 and will be paid on or about October 15, 2012.
HCC Insurance has a dividend yield of 1.91%. HCC has a 5-year average dividend growth rate of 9.16%. It has an equity summary score of 9.7 out of 10 for a VERY Bullish outlook.
Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share on common stock, representing a 25 percent increase in the company’s quarterly dividend. The increased dividend will be payable on Sept. 27, 2012 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 10, 2012. Brinker also authorized an additional $500 million in share repurchases, bringing the total outstanding share repurchase authorization to $626 million.
Brinker International has a dividend yield of 1.88%. EAT has a 5-year average dividend growth rate of 12.20%. It has an equity summary score of 7.5 out of 10 for a Bullish outlook.
Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.27 per share on its common stock. The dividend will be payable on October 10, 2012 to shareholders of record as of September 14, 2012. This one cent increase in the Company’s quarterly cash dividend over the same quarter of last year is 3.8% higher. This increase marks the twentieth (20th) consecutive year of dividend increases for the Company.
Community Bank System has a dividend yield of 3.70%. CBU has a 5-year average dividend growth rate of 5.39%. It has an equity summary score of 7.3 out of 10 for a Bullish outlook.
MTS Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: MTSC), a leading global supplier of high performance test systems and position sensors, today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, an increase of 20 percent. The dividend is payable on October 1, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 10, 2012. This is the Company’s 123rd consecutive quarterly dividend. Additionally, the Board of Directors has authorized the Company to purchase up to $40 million of its common stock in an accelerated share purchase program.
MTS Systems Corporation has a dividend yield of 2.42%. MTSC has a 5-year average dividend growth rate of 22.22%. It has an equity summary score of 8.3 out of 10 for a Bullish outlook.
Chemical Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CHFC) announced that the Board of Directors of the Corporation declared a third quarter 2012 cash dividend on its common stock of $0.21 per share, representing a 5.0% increase over the second quarter 2012 cash dividend of $0.20 per share. The third quarter 2012 dividend will be payable on September 21, 2012, to shareholders of record on September 7, 2012. The ex-dividend date is September 5, 2012.