Dividend Increase: NSC

Norfolk Southern (NSC) is increasing its quarterly dividend by 6.4%, from $0.47 to $0.50 per share. This is the second increase in 2012; the first increase was 9.3% back in January. Since mid-2010, the company has raised its dividend every two quarters, which is great. Given that I own 50 shares of NSC, my quarterly dividend increases from $23.50 to $25.00, which will add an extra $6.00 to my annual dividend income. This dividend increase also boosts my yield on cost to 2.76%. Thus far this year, there have been dividend increases for 16 of the 22 dividend growth stocks in my portfolio. However, this is the first stock with a second increase during 2012.