Dividend Increase: CMI + MORE

Cummins (CMI) is increasing its quarterly dividend by 25.0%, from $0.50 to $0.625 per share, putting the company on track for its 8th consecutive year of dividend growth (news release). Given that I own 15 shares of CMI, my quarterly dividend increases from $7.50 to $9.38 and my yield on cost becomes 2…

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/Dividends/Cummins%2C+Inc.+%28CMI%29+Raises+Quarterly+Dividend+25%25+to+%240.6250%3B+2.2%25+Yield/8486776.html for the full story.

Historical references show that stocks boasting a combination of high yield and robust dividend growth can outperform the overall market as well as their low yield and low dividend growth peers. These stocks generally reflect healthy earnings growth or cash flow generation that can support high yields and increasing dividend streams…

We live in a service- oriented economy. As a result, a large portion of the economic output is based upon purchases of services, rather than the purchases of pre-fabricated tangible products. Using an example from everyday life, a haircut is a service. Many people living in small communities across the United States go to a barber shop or a hair salon every few weeks or so…

 
 
I just came back from a week of training at work followed by a long weekend with friends at a vacation property we rented… nothing too juicy to keep my writing up to date on this blog! But while I was sitting by the pool and playing with my children, I received several questions from my mailing list members…

Each month I will post my income/expenses
for the previous month. I track every dollar in and out, so
what you see is exactly what I earned and spent (rounded to
the nearest dollar).

Income from June 2013:

$3,644–Regular Paycheck
$553–Dividend Income
$321–Online Income/Bonus

Total Income: $4,519

Expenses from June 2013:

$522–Rent
$189–Student Loans
$130–Health
$127–Fast Food/Pizza/Takeout
$109–Groceries
$45–Restaurants
$22–Public Transportation
$37–Pharmacy
$40–Mobile Phone
$30–Gym
$10–Fuel
$332–Everything Else*

Total Expenses: $1,598

*The Everything Else category includes expenses I don’t have a regular budget for…

In the latest look at stocks ordered by largest market capitalization, Russell 3000 component Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASD: LECO) was identified as having a larger market cap than the smaller end of the S&P 500, for example GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME), according to The Online Investor. Click here to find out the top S&P 500 components ordered by average analyst rating »

This is the third in a series of articles designed to find value in today’s stock market environment.  However, it is the second of 10 articles covering the 10 major general sectors.  In my first article, I laid the foundation that represents the two primary underlying ideas supporting the need to publish such a treatise…