DJIA companies expected to increase dividends

The 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average are expected to increase their annual dividend payouts by an average of 11.8% over the third quarter of 2010 and by 1.1% over the second quarter of this year. According to the results of a third-quarter survey by Dow Jones Indexes, the component companies' $102.7 billion in expected distributions for the 12-month period beginning Oct. 1, 2011, represents 38% of all indicated annual dividends by American public companies. David Krein, senior director of product development and analytics at Dow Jones Indexes, described the most recent report as “meaningful insight into the strategic outlook of bellwether U.S. corporations.” Nine of the 10 largest dividend distributions in the U.S. market — by total estimated payout — are Dow component companies. Annually, AT&T Inc. Ticker:(T), Exxon Mobil Corp. Ticker:(XOM), and General Electric Co. Ticker:(GE), which represent the top three dividend payers, account for 9.5% of all dividends paid by the stocks included in the overall Dow Jones U.S. Index. Based on the third-quarter data, the dividend yield of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 68 basis points higher than that of the Dow Jones U.S. Index, 2.95% vs. 2.27%. “One of the market's subtle truisms is that many investors track the [Dow Jones Industrial Average] for more than just its day-to-day pricing figures,” Mr. Krein said. “As we can see with the dividend information, there is much to be learned about the broad U.S. market by mining the Dow's component companies' data for useful indications that enable investors to make informed decisions about their investment portfolios.” At noon, the Dow was up 0.1% for the day. The index closed yesterday at 11,577.05, almost exactly where it started the year at 11,577.51. The S&P 500 was down 2.5% over the same period.