Dividend Roundup: STB, NNN, EPD, DEP, OHI, CLX, GPC

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Jul 16, 2011
Here are the six latest dividend-related developments featured on The Dynamic Dividend:

Student Transportation Brings Big Monthly Dividend to U.S.

Student Transportation (STB, Financial) announced this morning it has filed to have its common stock listed under the “TSB” ticker symbol on the NASDAQ . The provider of school bus transportation services in the U.S. and Canada is currently listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The move should be of interest to income investors, as Student Transportation currently distributes a fat dividend each month. And they’re not shy about it: The subtitle of today’s press release is “Bringing Growth and Dividends to U.S. Investors,” and their CEO makes several references to the company’s dividend program and the stock’s attractive yield.

Student Transportation has delivered a dividend to shareholders each month since initiating its payout in 2004, and currently distributes C$0.04636833 per share on a monthly basis (C$0.5564 annually). Shares of STB closed Wednesday’s session trading at C$6.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where they yield 8.89%.

National Retail Properties Ups Dividend Once Again

National Retail Properties (NNN, Financial) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.385 per share today, pushing its payout higher by 1.3%. The retail-focused real estate investment trust is currently on pace to improve its dividend output for the 22nd consecutive year, which is the fifth-longest streak among REITs.

Shares of NNN opened Friday’s session trading at $25.56, where they now feature a 6.03% dividend yield.

National Retail Properties has increased its dividend total every year dating back to 1991, boosting its payout by a total of 54% during its streak. The Class D Dividend Dynamo has never achieved year-over-year dividend growth of more than 6.1%.

The company’s press release claims only three other REITs have dividend growth streak of at least 22 years, but there are actually four: Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT, Financial) has a run going back to 1968, while Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRE, Financial), HCP (HCP, Financial), and Universal Health Realty Income Trust (UHT, Financial) have been increasing shareholder returns since 1973, 1986, and 1988, respectively.

Duncan, Enterprise Hike Distributions Ahead of Merger

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD, Financial) and Duncan Energy Partners (DEP, Financial) each declared increased distributions this morning, extending their stellar payout growth records ahead of a proposed merger of the two partnerships.

Enterprise declared a quarterly distribution of $0.605 per unit, which is a 1.3% increase over its prior payout and a 5.2% improvement over its distribution from the same period last year. This marks the 28th consecutive quarter the partnership has raised its payout. EPD opened Friday’s session trading at $43.05, where they now yield 5.62%.

Duncan declared a quarterly distribution of $0.46 per unit, a 0.6% increase over its previous payout and a 2.2% improvement over its distribution from the same period last year. This is the 11th straight quarter Duncan has increased its payout. DEP opened Friday’s session trading at $43.22, where it now yields 4.26%.

The proposed merger was originally announced back in April, and still requires majority approval from Duncan unitholders.

Omega Healthcare Investors Hikes Dividend Yet Again

Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI, Financial) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share this morning, which is a 5.3% increase over its previous payout and an 11% improvement over its dividend from the same period last year. This marks the fifth time the long-term care REIT has boosted its dividend in the last seven quarters.

Shares of OHI opened Friday’s session trading at $21.07, where they now carry a 7.59% dividend yield.

Omega has improved its annual dividend output every year since reinstating its payout near the end of 2003, and momentum is clearly building. Omega has raised its payout by a total of 167% during its streak, tallying 33% growth just since the start of 2010. That growth acceleration is just one of the reasons I have openly praised the company on this site, dubbing it an Elite REIT last month and putting it at #51 on my list of The 100 Best Values Among Dividend-Paying Stocks coming into the year.

Clorox Hits New All-Time High on Icahn Bid

The Clorox Company (CLX, Financial) is trading much higher today on news that legendary activist investor Carl Icahn — the company’s largest shareholder, with a 9.4% stake — has offered to take the company private for about $10.2 billion.

Icahn’s bid of $76.50 per share represents a 12% premium to the stock’s closing price on Thursday, and is 21% higher than the stock’s closing price on December 20, 2010, one day before Icahn began accumulating his stake.

In addition to the actual bid, Icahn’s letter to the Clorox CEO (full text on the SEC website) contains a few other items worth mentioning. For instance, Icahn will pay Clorox a fee of $100 million if the company accepts the bid by July 29 and his firm fails to close the deal for any reason. He also encourages the company to go find a more synergistic acquirer such as Procter and Gamble (PG, Financial) or Colgate Palmolive (CL, Financial), saying even a purchase price of $100 per share would be highly accretive to the earnings of many potential strategic buyers.

Shares of CLX have rocketed toward the takeover price today, jumping as high as $75.10 (+9.75%) in early trading — a new all-time high. At that level, the stock features a 3.20% dividend yield.

Clorox has improved its annual dividend output every year dating back to 1978, qualifying the company as a Class C Dividend Dynamo. Each of the company’s last five dividend hikes has raised its payout by at least 8.7%, including the 9% raise given to shareholders in May.

Genuine Parts Near All-Time High After Impressive Q2

Genuine Parts Company (GPC, Financial) reported second quarter results that topped Wall Street’s expectations this morning, sending the legendary dividend growth stock within a piston ring of its all-time high.

The automotive replacement part distributor posted earnings of $0.96 per share on $3.18 billion in revenue, easily beating the consensus estimates for both profit ($0.89 per share) and sales ($3.11 billion). Net income rose 22% year-over-year, while net sales grew by 12%.

Shares of GPC have traded as high as $57.62 (+4.54%) today, just below their all-time high of $57.66 (established last week). At today’s high, the stock features a 3.12% dividend yield.

Genuine Parts gave its shareholders a 9.8% raise in February, its biggest dividend hike in 17 years. The Class A Dividend Dynamo has improved its dividend output every year dating back to 1957, tied for the fourth-longest active streak among publicly-traded companies.