American Express maintains its dividend payment

It was another slow week for dividend increases, as few well knows companies raised their dividends. There was some surprising news from American Express (AXP), one of the largest holdings of billionaire Warren Buffet. The provider of charge and credit payment card products surprised Wall Street by maintaining its current dividend of $0.18/share. This was contrary to recent moves by Wells Fargo (WFC), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and US Bank (USB) to cut their dividends substantially. Amex is not a dividend achiever or aristocrat since it only started consistently raising its dividends in 2003. The stock currently yields 5%. The company does fit the profile of a potential financial dividend cutter, especially after receiving $3.389 billion worth of TARP money.

The board of Prospect Capital Corporation (PSEC) increased the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock to 40.5 cents per share from 40.375 cents. This marked the 17th consecutive quarterly dividend increase for the New York, NY private equity and mezzanine debt firm specializing in secured debt and equity investments. Prospect Capital Corporation currently yields 18%.

Bowl America A (BWL.A), which operates bowling centers in the United States increased its quarterly dividend payments to $0.155 from $0.15/share. This marks the 38 consecutive dividend increase for this Dividend Champion. The stock currently yields 6.40%.

Raytheon Company (RTN), designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and supports technological products, services, and solutions for governmental and commercial customers in the United States and internationally, rewarded its shareholders with an 11% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.28 to $0.31 per share. This marks the 6th consecutive year of dividend increases for the company. The stock currently yields 3.10%

Hatteras Financial (HTS), rewarded its shareholders with a 5% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1 to $1.05 per share. The mortgage real estate investment trust currently yields 17.50%. I wouldn’t jump on this ship yet however, given the short history that the company had on the market in addition to the irregular dividend schedule.

The board of Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (PBG) increased the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock to 18 cents per share from 17 cents. This marked the 6th consecutive annual dividend increase for the New York, NY manufacturer and distributor of Pepsi-cola beverages. Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. currently yields 3.20%.

Overall I didn’t find any consistent dividend grower to spark my interest in further research except Bowl America. The rest of the stocks have a short history of raising their dividends, which doesn’t even come close to the ten-year period of dividend growth, which I require.

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