Dividend Stocks Rewarding Shareholders

It's official: According to Howard Silverblatt at Standard & Poor's, the first four months of dividend increases in 2011 have already surpassed total dividend increases for the full year of 2010. In total, the 500 largest firms on Wall Street have increased their payouts by nearly $21 billion so far this year, a massive upswing in the cash that companies are willing to part with for the benefit of their shareholders. But the dividend hikes that companies are paying out right now are even more significant than that massive $21 billion number suggests.

Historically, statistics show that dividend stocks are about much more than just income payouts. On a total return basis, they significantly outperform their non-payer peers as a whole. Over the last 36 years, dividend stocks outperformed the rest of the S&P 500 by 2.5% annually, and they outperformed nonpayers by nearly 8% every year, all while paying out cash to their shareholders, according to a study from NDR.

Source: The Street

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