4 Stocks That Just Raised Their Dividends by up to 50%

March has been a popular month in terms of companies rewarding their shareholders with dividend increases, and four more companies recently joined the club by announcing increases of 4-50%. Let’s take a closer look at each company and their new dividends, so you can determine if you should invest in one or more of them today.

Martinrea International Inc. (TSX: MRE)

Martinrea is one of the world’s largest diversified automotive suppliers. Its product offerings include quality metal parts, assemblies and modules, fluid management systems, and complex aluminum products.

In its fiscal 2017 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release on March 1, Martinrea announced a 50% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.045 per share, equating to $0.18 per share annually, which brings its yield up to about 1.2% at the time of this writing.

It’s important to make two additional notes about the new dividend.

First, the first quarterly installment at the increased rate will be announced in its fiscal 2018 first-quarter earnings release.

Second, this is the first time Martinrea has raised its dividend since it began paying a dividend in 2013.

Enercare Inc. (TSX:ECI)

Enercare is one of North America’s largest home and commercial services and energy solutions companies. It provides sub-metering solutions and HVAC repair, maintenance, and new equipment sales to residential and commercial clients across Canada and the United States, and my Foolish colleague Kay Ng is very bullish on its stock today.

In its fiscal 2017 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release on March 6, Enercare announced a 4% increase to its monthly dividend to $0.0832 per share, equating to $0.9984 per share annually, which brings its yield up to about 5.5% at the time of this writing.

It’s important to make the following two notes about the new dividend.

First, the first monthly installment at the increased rate is “payable to shareholders of record on the applicable date in April 2018.”

Second, Enercare was already on track for 2018 to mark the eighth straight year in which it has raised its annual dividend payment, and this hike puts it on track for 2019 to mark the ninth straight year with an increase.

Canadian Western Bank (TSX: CWB)

CWB is one of the leading diversified financial services organizations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba with approximately $27.91 billion in assets as of January 31, 2018.

In its fiscal 2018 first-quarter earnings release on March 8, CWB announced a 4.2% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share, equating to $1.00 per share annually, which brings its yield up to about 2.8% at the time of this writing.

Foolish investors must make two additional notes about the new dividend.

First, the first quarterly installment at the increased rate will be paid on March 30 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16.

Second, CWB was already on pace for fiscal 2018 to mark the 26th straight year in which it has raised its annual dividend payment, giving it one of the longest active streaks for a public corporation in Canada, and this hike puts it on pace for fiscal 2019 to mark the 27th straight year with an increase.

Enghouse Systems Limited (TSX: ENGH)

Enghouse Systems is one of the world’s leading providers of enterprise software solutions, and it’s a stock that my Foolish colleague Ambrose O’Callaghan is very bullish on.

In its fiscal 2018 first-quarter earnings release on March 8, Enghouse announced a 12.5% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.18 per share, equating to $0.72 per share annually, which brings its yield up to about 1.1% at the time of this writing.

Foolish investors must make two additional notes about the new dividend.

First, the first quarterly installment at the increased rate is payable on May 31 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 17.

Second, the software company was already on track for fiscal 2018 to mark the 10th straight year in which it has raised its annual dividend payment, and this hike puts it on track for fiscal 2019 to mark the 11th straight year with an increase.