“Investors should expect an announcement of a dividend hike with the earnings report in mid-April. Our projection is that the dividend will be raised from $0.47 per share to around $0.60 per share,” according to 24/7 Wall Street.
With $178 billion in cash, Apple has ample room to increase its payout. International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) is another Dow member that has a penchant for April dividend increases. With a dividend increase streak of 19 years, the company has some work to do before entering NOBL. However, Apple and IBM do combine for over 17% of the First Trust NASDAQ Technology Dividend Index Fund (NasdaqGS: TDIV).
Underscoring the strength of recent tech sector dividend increases, TDIV’s trailing 12-month yield of 2.74% is nearly 80 basis points above the yield on 10-year Treasurys. TDIV is one of at least 12 dividend ETFs that feature Apple as top 10 holding. [Apple’s Ascent in Dividend ETFs]
The Dow stocks mentioned in this article combine for over a quarter of the SDPR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF’s (NYSEArca: DIA) weight.
ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of Apple. Todd Shriber owns shares of J&J.