Dividends rising solidly this year

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Give thanks for dividends.

During a period in which the stock market vacillated over worries about the European debt crisis, American companies boosted dividends at a healthy clip over the last three months.

In the second quarter, 444 companies boosted their payouts versus only 21 that decreased them, according to Standard & Poor’s Corp.

Through the first half of this year, the ratio of dividend increases to decreases is about 19-1, the best pace since 2007. The ratio was just below 12-1 last year and was 3-2 in 2009.

The average dividend yield increased to 2.51% in the second quarter from 2.39% in the first three months of the year, according to S&P.

The improvement in dividends reflects companies’ improving confidence in their prospects, said Howard Silverblatt, an S&P analyst.

“We expect to see dividend increases continue across the board for all sectors during the second half of 2011, but at a slightly lower pace than we’ve seen during the first half of the year,” Silverblatt said.

-- Walter Hamilton