Four Dividend Growth Companies Increasing Dividends Last Week

I review the list of dividend increases every week, in an effort to monitor the dividend growth investing universe. This exercise helps me review existing holdings and potentially uncover companies for further research. This exercise also helps me showcase my quick method of reviewing companies, before determining if I should put them on my "to research" pile or "not research" pile.

There were ten companies raising dividends in North America last week. Four of those companies have managed to raise dividends for at least a decade. The companies include:

Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI) manufactures and sells filtration systems and replacement parts worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Mobile Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Life Sciences.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 11.10% to $0.30/share. Donaldson is a member of the S&P High-Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index and calendar year 2024 marked the 29th consecutive year of annual dividend increases.

The company managed to grow earnings from $1.51/share in 2015 to $3.43/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $3.60/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 19.30 times forward earnings and yields 1.72%.

Lowe's (LOW) operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. It provides a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating.

The company raised its quarterly dividend by 4.30% to $1.20/share. This is the 63rd consecutive year of annual dividend increases for this dividend king. Over the past decade, this dividend king has managed to raise dividends at an annualized rate of 17.46%.

This is also the third consecutive year of raising the quarterly dividend by a nickel however.

Between 2015 and 2024, the company managed to grow earnings from $2.73/share to $12.24/share.

The company is expected to earn $12.26/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 18.42 times forward earnings and yields 2.04%.

National Bank of Canada (NA.to or NTIOF) provides financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional clients, and governments in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International. 

The company raised quarterly dividends to CAD $1.18/share. This is a 7.27% increase over the dividend paid during the same time last year. This is the 16th consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend achiever.

Over the past decade, the bank has managed to grow dividend at an annualized rate of 8.62%.

Between 2015 and 2024, the company managed to grow earnings from CAD $4.56/share to CAD $10.78/share.

The bank is expected to earn CAD $10.96/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 10.96 times forward earnings and yields 3.50%.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. Its Personal Banking segment offers home equity financing, personal lending, chequing and savings accounts, private banking, auto financing, mutual funds, GICs, credit cards, and payment products and solutions. 

The company raised quarterly dividends to CAD $1.54/share. This is an 8.45% increase over the dividend paid during the same time last year. This is the 13th consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend achiever.

Over the past decade, the bank has managed to grow dividend at an annualized rate of 6.89%.

Between 2015 and 2024, the company managed to grow earnings from CAD $6.75/share to CAD $11.27/share.

The bank is expected to earn CAD $13.29/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 13.09 times forward earnings and yields 3.54%.

Relevant Articles:

- Nine Companies Raising Dividends Last Week

- 14 Companies Showering Shareholders With More Cash

- Eleven Dividend Growth Companies Raising Dividends Last Week

- Four Dividend Increases In a Time of Tariffs

The Power of Moats

I was going through my file cabinet, and uncovered an interesting presentation from Morningstart on the Power of Economic Moats. An economic moat is a competitive advantage that allows a company to generate high returns for long periods of time. There are several sources of competitive advantage, which we would cover below.

Having an economic moat allows a business to generate high rates of return on investment over a long period of time. That allows for faster earnings growth, more predictable cashflows and generating excess cashflows too. Businesses with high moats have generated high returns on investment for long periods of time. Duration is very important.

I like the idea of looking at stocks as small pieces of a business, rather than pieces of paper to be traded.

I also like the idea of performing fundamental research,  assessing competitive advantages, taking long-term perspective and investing when valuation is right, and odds are in your favor as an investor. 

There are five source of sustainable competitive advantage.

- Intangible Assets

- Switching Costs

- Network Effect

- Cost Advantage

- Efficient Scale

Intangible Assets includes things like brands, patents and regulatory licenses. A few examples of companies with strong intangible assets listed include Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Sanofi.

Switching costs include the ability to effectively lock in a customer into an arrangement that would make it extremely costly for them to switch. A few examples include ADP, Oracle, and Intuitive Surgical.

Network effect is when the value of a particular service increases for new and existing users as more costomers are added. A few examples listed include Mastercard, Ebay, Facebook, CME Group.

Cost advantage is when you have lower costs than your competitors for a variety of structural reason. A few examples listed include Amazon, Novo Nordisk, Shell and ABInbev.

Efficient Scale is when a market of limited size is served by a few companies, a monopoly or dupopoly of sorts.

Moats are not static. They expand or collapse.There are changes in industry dynamics, and management may do silly things that damage the moat. 

That being said moats provide a margin of safety, and could provide an advantage if you can snap a good company on sale that has with a durable advantage that would be in business for a while.

Ultimately the important thing is having a unique advantage in business, that allows that business to earn high returns on capital. The longer the duration of that advantage, the higher the possibility for earning money as an investor. If one buys it at a price that avoids overpaying for such quality business, that further increases potential for profits.

The goal of course is to assess the durability of the advantage. The products or services that have wide sustainable and durable moats around them can deliver rewards to investors. 

Long-time readers of Dividend Growth Investor are aware of the concepts of moats and the types of companies listed above. Many of them are well-known blue chip names, which have delivered good results and good returns to shareholders. That being said, you can notice some of these entities like ABInbev have had their fortunes reversed. But others have had their fortunes continuing to prosper, e.g. ADP and Mastercard. Note this presentation is from over a decade ago, and still overall holds its ground.

Nine Companies Raising Dividends Last Week

I review dividends increases every week, as part of my monitoring process. I typically focus my attention to companies that have raised dividends for at least a decade.

I like the signaling power of dividends. A company can only afford to grow a dividend for extended periods of time if it has been able to grow cashflows over that same period of time. You cannot easily grow cashflows, while also distributing more cash each year, without having some sort of a moat or competitive advantage. In other words, rising dividends are a trail of breadcumbs that signal to serious researchers that there are some good companies for review.

A long history of dividend increases is an end result of a quality business, with strong competitive advantages and strong history of generating cash flows. It is very likely that these are dependable and recurring cashflows as well, and this business enjoys a high rate of return on invested capital. The reason these businesses are able to generate so much excess cashflows is because they generate high returns on invested capital. In other words, they do not need a lot of capital to grow.

That being said, a long history of dividend increases is just the first step in the process. It merely puts a company on the map (or in my investable population). Further work is needed to screen, and evaluate companies one at a time, until a manageable list for investment at the right price is generated. Monitoring such a list is important as well, whether it's a current holding or a prospective one. Monitoring can also provide investors with lessons for further learning.

One of my monitoring processes is to evaluate companies that recently raised dividends that also have a ten year track of annual dividend increases. 

Over the past week, there were nine such companies. The companies include:

Alerus Financial Corporation (ALRS) operates as the bank holding company for Alerus Financial, National Association that provides various financial services to businesses and consumers in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Banking, Retirement and Benefit Services, and Wealth.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 5% to $0.21/share. This is the 27th consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend champion. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 7.74%.

The company's earnings went from $1.26/share in 2015 to $0.84/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $2.19/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 9.57 times forward earnings and yields 4.04%.

Flowers Foods, Inc. (FLO) produces and markets packaged bakery food products in the United States. 

The company raised quarterly dividends by 3.13% to $0.2475/share. This is the 24th consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 6.95%.

The company's earnings went from $0.90/share in 2015 to $1.18/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $1.11/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 16.48 times forward earnings and yields 6.01%.

Lennox International Inc. (LII) designs, manufactures, and markets products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 13.04% to $1.30/share. This is the 16th consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 15.34%.

The company's earnings went from $4.16/share in 2015 to $22.67/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $22.86/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 25.14 times forward earnings and yields 0.92%.

Logitech International S.A. (LOGI) designs, manufactures, and markets software-enabled hardware solutions that connect people to working, creating, gaming, and streaming worldwide. 

The company raised the annual dividend 8.62% to 1.26 CHF/share. 

This is the 12th year of consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the dividend has increased at an annualized rate of 17.77%/year.

The company's earnings went from $0.73/share in 2015 to $4.17/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $4.47/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 19.38 times forward earnings and yields 1.58%.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and Polyolefins—Americas; Olefins and Polyolefins—Europe, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 2.24% to $1.37/share. This is the 15th consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 6.92%.

The company's earnings went from $9.61/share in 2015 to $4.17/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $3.83/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 14.72 times forward earnings and yields 9.76%.

Medtronic plc (MDT) develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 1.43% to $0.71/share. This is the 48th consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend aristocrat. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 9.01%.

The company's earnings went from $10.51/share in 2015 to $28.39/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $25.20/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 18.77 times forward earnings and yields 1.96%.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, the Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. 

The company raised quarterly dividends by 12.14% to $2.31/share. This is the 22nd consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 11.50%.

The company's earnings went from $2.51/share in 2015 to $3.63/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $5.64/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 14.36 times forward earnings and yields 3.51%.

Universal Corporation (UVV) engages in sourcing, processing, and supplying leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. It operates through two segments, Tobacco Operations, and Ingredients Operations.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 1.23% to $0.82/share. This is the 55th consecutive annual dividend increases for this dividend king. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 4.67%.

The company's earnings went from $4.33/share in 2015 to $4.81/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $5.02/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 11.59 times forward earnings and yields 5.53%.

Unum Group (UNM) provides financial protection benefit solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Poland. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block segment.

The company raised quarterly dividends by 9.52% to $0.46/share. this is the 17th consecutive annual dividend increase for this dividend achiever. Over the past decade, the company has increased dividends at an annualized rate of 9.74%.

The company's earnings went from $3.51/share in 2015 to $9.49/share in 2024.

The company is expected to earn $8.95/share in 2025.

The stock sells for 8.90 times forward earnings and yields 2.30%.

I like to review the most recent dividend increase against the history from the last decade. It is helpful to evaluate the trends in financials, such as earnings per share in order to gain an understanding whether dividend growth is based on solid fundamentals. I also like to review the current valuation. It tend to gather all that information to then think through the trade-offs between dividend yield and dividend growth, and how cyclical the business is.

Relevant Articles:

- Nine Dividend Growth Companies Confident In Their Prospects

- 14 Companies Showering Shareholders With More Cash

- Eleven Dividend Growth Companies Raising Dividends Last Week

- Four Dividend Increases In a Time of Tariffs

Bill Gates Could've Been The Worlds First Trillionaire

Bill Gates is one of the founders of software giant Microsoft (MSFT). 

Before Microsoft went public in 1986, he held 11,222,000 shares in the company. He owned 49.20% of it.

He sold a portion of his stake at the IPO, and has been regularly and consistently been reducing his stake in Microsoft for the past 38 years.

This is how the stock price did since the IPO:

The company initiated a dividend in 2003, and has been increasing it annually since 2004.

Many of the funds have been allocated through his private family office, and have been diversified away.

Much of the funds have also found their way to his charitable arm, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has worked on eradicating a variety of issues around the world (e.g. polio).

The money has done a lot of good.

It's still fascinating to think about how much this stake would have been worth, had he not sold anything, and kept all shares. For the sake of simplicity, I would assume that all dividends received were not reinvested. Otherwise, the numbers get even higher, but messier too. 

While his ownership of the float would have likely remained around 50%, after accounting for issuance of stock options and restricted stock units to employees, with dividends reinvested he could've been in a hypotetical situation where his ownership is more than 100%. Which of course is impossible.

You can view the trend in shares outstanding for Microsoft between 1990 and 2025 here (adjusted for stock splits):

The stock has gone through nine stock splits since its IPO in 1986. 

This means that each share from 1986 would have turned to 288 shares today after all the splits.

This also means that his 11,222,000 shares from 1986 would have turned to 3,231,936,000 shares today.

At the current share price of $455/share, this translates into a net worth of almost $1.5 trillion dollars.

This means that Bill Gates would have been the world's first trillionaire.

He would have also been richer than the richest people in the world today.

These are the four richest people in the world today, according to Forbes:

Gates could have been richer than all four combined.

Instead, he's worth "only" $115 billion today, and is number 12 on the list of the world's richest people.

Of course, this is mostly a discussion with a lot of hindsight bias.

Back in 1986, Bill Gates did not really know how the next 38 years would unfold. It could have been very likely that Microsoft did not survive or if it did, it did not deliver the amazing returns it did.

In general, it makes sense to diversify your investments in order to protect yourself from unknown risks. It's also a good idea to give back and help those in need. 

My take-away from this story is that I should keep my winners for as long as possible, and not diworsify away any potential. While I start my strategy with a diversified exposure to a large group of entities that fit my criteria, I do believe that the key to building long-term wealth is to let winners run. 

When auditing my investment decisions, I realized that selling too early was one of my biggest mistakes.

In other words, you want to water the flowers and cut the weeds. If you sell out those future wealth builders too early, you may not make a lot of money in your strategy overall. Since you do not really know which of your portfolio holdings will be the best performing ones over the next 40 years, it makes sense to avoid too much turnover and selling them prematurely.

Higher turnover is associated with a higher potential for making a mistake, and increasing costs. 

That being said, it's also good to have some diversification as well. After all, things could have gone wrong for his net worth, if Microsoft had not performed as it did. The company had to work hard to endure the changes in the business and tech world for decades, and thrive as well. But as we all know, different paths could have led to different outcomes as well.

How Earl Crawley Built a $500,000 Dividend Portfolio on Minimum Wage

Today, I wanted to share the story of Earl Crawley, a parking lot attendant who accumulated a portfolio of dividend stocks worth $500,000, despite the fact that he never made more than $20,000/year.

This story is very inspirational, and teaches us a lot of lessons that are applicable to all of us, despite the cards we are dealt in life. It reminds me a lot of the story of Ronald Read, the Vermont Gas Station Attendant, who built a dividend portfolio worth $8 million.

Mr. Earl's Story

Earl Crawley was a 69 year old Baltimore parking lot attendant, when I first heard about him in 2008.

He had worked as a parking lot attendant for a bank for the previous 44 years. He had never made more than $20,000/year. Despite all of that, he had a dividend portfolio worth $500,000 and a fully paid off home.

Earl had a difficult childhood. When he was 4, he and his three sisters and brother were placed in St. Elizabeth's Orphanage on Argonne Drive after his mother contracted tuberculosis. It took nearly three years for his mother to get well and reunite the family. They rented an apartment on Saratoga Street near Lexington Market.

Earl had started working at the age of 13, but his mother took most of his income. He had dyslexia, which is why there were not many opportunities for him beyond some manual labor jobs such as mowing lawns, cleaning houses, being a parking lot attendant. He realized he had to save as much money as he can to overcome life's challenges.

After he got married, and had three children, he supported his family on $80/week in the 1960s. Money was tight, but he lived within his means by keeping costs low and working several jobs to make more income. Despite all obstacles, his frugal attitude helped him to save and invest. He had learned this resourcefulness from his mother, who was able to make ends meet with a limited income from low wage jobs.

How did this parking lot attendant manage to learn about bonds, dividend reinvestment plans and investing in the stock market?

One day, a well-meaning co-worker took Crawley aside and put a bug in his ear: You have a limited education. You better get some money because you won't go far here. That co-worker, became a friend and mentor, spurring the youthful handyman to learn more about the stock market.

His parking lot was close to a lot of financial institutions. Earl kept asking questions, and kept learning, picking the brain of anyone who engaged. Earl listened to bankers, lawyers, brokers, believed in the power of compounding & stocks for the long run.

Mr Earl's Investing Journey

His ultimate goal was to let the money work for him so he didn't have to.

Earl started with savings stamps, savings bonds and later graduated to investing regularly in a mutual fund. He started investing consistently $25/month in a mutual fund for 15 years.

By the late 1970s, his net worth reached $25,000.

By 1981 he started investing directly in blue chip, dividend paying stocks like IBM, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar. He bought a share or two, but kept buying consistently over time. He kept reinvesting his dividends, which increased his shares and dividend income.

By 2007 he had a portfolio worth $500,000, a fully paid off house and no debt

I would imagine that his portfolio generated between $15,000 and $20,000 in annual dividend income

At his income level that was probably tax-free or tax-deferred. That’s because his assets were split between a company 401 (k), an Individual Retirement Account and a taxable account. If you are under a certain income threshold, most of your assets would be non-taxable.

Mr Earl's Portfolio Holdings

Based on information I found about him, his portfolio seemed diversified in blue chip companies that paid a dividend. Examples include:

Coca-Cola (KO)

Caterpillar (CAT)

Bank of America (BAC)

IBM (IBM)

Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Verizon (VZ)

AT&T (T)

Exxon-Mobil (XOM)

He couldn't afford to lose money in the stock market. This is why he focused on stable blue chip companies, which paid a dividend.

He has stated that when he first started out, he had to be conservative and take his time because he couldn't afford to lose money. He looks for companies with stability that pay dividends. While he does use his broker, many times he'll go where my spirit leads him.

He also held mutual funds in his IRA and 401 (k). He did have a good amount of employer stock in his 401 (k) too, which was accumulated through regular payroll deductions.

Earl is also paying it forward, by donating shares to others, teaching them about dividend reinvestment and the power of compounding. He shares his lessons with other members of his church, and starting an investment club.

This knowledge would hopefully compound, make his community better educated and hopefully wealthier. This knowledge would pay dividends for generations to come, hopefully breaking the cycle of poverty for many of his friends.

Seven Wealth Building Lessons from Mr. Earl

After reviewing some interviews with Mr Earl, and reading some articles about him, I have come with a list of several lessons that helped him accumulate his nest egg.

1. Live within your means

2. Try to always save some money

3. Invest regularly on a consistent schedule

4. Invest in blue-chip dividend paying stocks

5. Reinvest those dividends

6. Let your money work hard for you

7. Keep learning

I find stories like that very inspirational. It shows me that anyone can acquire wealth if they live within their means, save and invest prudently, and take advantage of the power of compounding over long periods of time.

One of the largest misconceptions people have is that they need to earn a high income, in order to save. The important thing is to be able to live within your means, and manage your income and your expenses at the same time. The different between income and expenses is the savings rate, which should be then invested in assets such as equities.  While earning a high income can help, too often we see highly compensated employees succumb to lifestyle inflation and spend their raises, and then some, on an expensive lifestyle. While earning a low income may seem like an obstacle to building wealth, it may teach folks to be resourceful and live a simpler life withot many wants. This can lead to a cheap lifestyle, that can help accumulate wealth. This is a counter-intuitive idea to many folks today. Yet, people like Mr Earl and Ronald Read, the millionaire gas station attendant, are living proof that you do not need a high income to accumulate a sizeable nest egg.

I believe that if there is a will, there is a way.

Resources about Mr Earl Crawley

I enjoyed viewing the following video of Mr. Earl from Moneytrack:

You can also learn more from this book about him, titled: Nickel and Dime Your Way To Wealth: Wealth Building On Any Income

There are a few articles I read about him, which were very helpful in learning about Mr. Earl Crawley's journey:

- Stocking up

- Investing With Nickels and Dimes

- The unlikely investor