Dividend Increases for Thursday July 14, 2011

Dividend Increases for Thursday July 14, 2011

Four companies announced dividend increases today including 2 Limited Partnerships, 1 Business Development Corporation (BDC) and a commonly held Large Cap.

The largest increases in dividends came from Pope Resources L.P. (ticker: pope) with a huge 40% increase, followed by the drugstore chain, Walgreen Company (ticker: wag) with an equally impressive increase of 28%, keeping it’s 35 year tradition of dividend increases alive.

Completing today’s line-up of dividend increases are Gladstone Investment Corporation (ticker: gain) and Genesys Energy L.P. (ticker: GEL) with increases of 11% and 1.8% respectively.

Week in review

This week over 10 separate companies have delivered dividend increases which offers up good evidence that not only the US economy, but those around the world are not only healing but are beginning to show signs of continued growth and expansion.

Investment Considerations

As always when evaluating investment opportunities it’s important to keep in mind not only the fundamentals of the stock itself, but also how the holding entity (Limited Partnership, Royalty Trust, Master Limited Partnership, Business Development Company, Preferred Stock) may affect the way you report income on your annual tax return as well as the amount or percentage of tax  you will be required to pay. Adding shares of any of these special entities to tax deferred / retirement accounts may also present additional issues that should be discussed with your CPA or tax planner / advisor before purchasing.

Dividend Increases for Thursday July 7, 2011

Dividend Increases for Thursday July 7, 2011

Western Gas Partners, LP (ticker: WES)  increased their quarterly dividend today by $.025/share for an increase of 3.8%. Based on today’s closing price of $36.15/share Western Gas Partners pays out a 4.48% dividend yield.

Because WGP is a limited partnership, you will be issued a K-1 tax form each year and will be required to include US Federal Tax Form 1065 when completing your tax return. As I currently hold such small positions in the DDI portfolio I typically avoid adding shares of  limited partnership interests to my holdings in an attempt to keep tax reporting as simple as possible.

I would consider making an exception for limited partnership interests that generate monthly income – however, Western Gas Partners currently pays dividends quarterly in August, November, February and May, so for now I won’t be considering adding shares of WGP.