3 Attractive Income Stocks Whose Dividends Could Double

Dividend stocks are often the foundation for a great retirement portfolio. Dividend payments not only put money in your pocket, which can help hedge against any downward move in the stock market, but they're usually a sign of a financially sound company. Dividend payments also give investors the opportunity to reinvest into more shares of stock, thus boosting future dividend payments and compounding gains over time. Here are three income stocks with payout ratios currently below 50% that could potentially double their dividends...

Amgen (AMGN) hasn't been shy about enacting big dividend increases. In late October Amgen announced a 27% quarterly payout increase to $1 per share. By comparison, Amgen was paying just $0.28 per quarter back in 2011. That's phenomenal growth that shareholders surely appreciate. Littelfuse (LFUS) introduced a $0.15 per quarter dividend to shareholders in 2010, and has increased its payout five times since then. In its most recent quarter Littelfuse paid investors $0.29 per share, so its payout has nearly doubled in five years. Allegiant (ALGT) is forecast to earn $12.61 in EPS this year, and nearly $17 per share by 2018. Even if it paid out a dividend that's quadruple what it is now, Allegiant would only have a payout ratio of around 25% based on its 2018 EPS projections.

Source: Motley Fool

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