S&P 500 Dividends Increase 11.5% in 2007 versus 2006

Standard & Poor's reported dividends for the S&P 500 Index totaled $27.73 in 2007 versus $24.88 in 2006. This represents an increase of 11.5%. Additionally, Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst for Standard & Poor's noted the following dividend action items:

• Increasing the indicated rate to $28.75 versus $26.55.

• Expecting a 9.3% gain in the actual cash dividends paid in 2008 over that of 2007 which equates to $30.30 per share.
  

• 11 companies in the S&P 500 chose to initiate a dividend payment in 2007, bringing the total to 389, a level not seen in seven years.

• Tendency for index issues to pay and increase cash dividends is much greater than that of the general market with 77.8% of the S&P 500 constituents paying cash dividends versus just 38.7% for the non-S&P 500 companies.

• In 2007, over 60% of the S&P 500 increased their dividend payout compared to less than 28% for the non-S&P 500 companies.

Source:

S&P Increases Indicated Dividend Rate on the S&P 500 (pdf)
Standard & Poor's
By: Howard Silverblatt and David Guarino
December 27, 2007
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/122707_500-DivRateChange.pdf