Latest Dividend Growth: Norfolk Southern And Wendy's Hiked Dividends

Yesterday, eleven companies announced a dividend hike and one stock, Walter Industries, cut dividends from 12.5 cents per share to 1 cent. The biggest dividend hike came from BBCN Bancorp who raised its cash distributions by 50 percent. The current yield of BBCN is at 1.95 percent.

Two big names are on the list of the latest dividend growth companies: Wendy's and Norfolk Southern. 

The railroad company Norfolk Southern hiked its dividends by 4 percent and yields at 2.79 percent. The operating margin of the transportation stock is still very high at 27.90 percent. The company benefits from the current shale gas boom.

The fast food chain Wendy's announced a 25 percent dividend hike. That's a great increase if you look at the fundamentals of the company but the earnings outlook is good. Earnings are expected to grow by 14.33 percent for the next five years. The dividend yield of Wendy's amounts to 2.25 percent.

These are the latest dividend growth stocks from yesterday:

Company	Dividend Yield in %	Dividend Growth	Payment Period	Ex-Dividend Date	Dividend Payment Date
Access National	2.86	10.00%	Quarterly	8/5/2013	8/23/2013
Atlas Pipeline Partners	6.33	5.08%	Quarterly	8/5/2013	8/14/2013
Bar Harbor Bankshares	3.12	1.61%	Quarterly	8/13/2013	9/13/2013
Barnes Group	1.34	10.00%	Quarterly	8/23/2013	9/10/2013
BBCN Bancorp	1.95	50.00%	Quarterly	7/31/2013	8/16/2013
Global Partners	6.14	0.86%	Quarterly	8/1/2013	8/14/2013
MPLX L.P.	3.14	4.59%	Quarterly	7/31/2013	8/14/2013
Norfolk Southern	2.79	4.00%	Quarterly	7/31/2013	9/10/2013
StoneMor Partners	9.22	0.84%	Quarterly	8/1/2013	8/15/2013
SunCoke Energy Partn.	7.38	37.58%	Quarterly	8/13/2013	8/30/2013
Wendy's Co	2.81	25.00%	Quarterly	8/29/2013	9/17/2013

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20 Cheap Dividend Contenders With Real Low Debt Figures

Dividend Contenders with low debt and cheap price ratios originally published at long-term-investments.blogspot.com. Dividend Contenders have raised their dividend payments over 10 years in a row but not more than 25 consecutive years. There are over 200 stocks with such an impressive dividend growth history but not all of them are really good. Every stock has a something that an investor loves and hates. The perfect stock does not exist.

Today I would like to screen the Dividend Contenders category by cheap stocks (forward P/E below 15) with the lowest debt ratios. For passive investors, it's very important to own low leveraged growth stocks because they can expect further dividend hikes. If you purchase them at reasonable prices, you can increase the possibility for a good return.

Twelve of the 20 cheap Contenders with very low debt to equity ratios have a buy or better rating and four yield over three percent. Many insurer and banks are on the list. The financial sector is very strong.

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