I think the pandemic has taught a lot of people the importance of passive income. A job? Yeah, not as reliable as you might think.

But passive income tends to flow and grow through the best and worst of times. Especially from high-quality dividend growth stocks. I’d know.

I quit my job in my early 30s in favor of living off of safe, growing dividend income.

And I went into the pandemic last year with a six-figure portfolio chock-full of high-quality dividend growth stocks. Guess what? I made it through just fine.

In fact, the vast majority of my holdings were increasing their dividends straight through the crisis, as if nothing happened.

So I not only avoided a massive drop in my income during a global crisis – my income actually went up. That’s the power of dividend growth investing. Guess what else?

Many of these companies are still at it, increasing their dividends right on schedule, as I’m about to show you.

Today, I want to tell you about three dividend growth stocks that just announced dividend increases. Ready?

Let’s dig in.

Dividend Increaser #1: Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (EXPD)

Expeditors International just increased their dividend by 11.5%.

This under-the-radar Dividend Aristocrat keeps on delivering. They’re expediting freight and dividends. I love it.

This marks the 27th consecutive year of dividend increases for the logistics company.

That’s the kind of consistency that you really can’t find at a job nowadays. Who keeps the same job for 27 straight years? Who gets pay raises from that job for 27 straight years? Almost nobody. But Expeditors International shareholders only had to hold stock in order to accomplish that.

The stock is up more than 25% to start the year, and it’s not cheap.

But these high-quality dividend growth stocks rarely are. Too many investors out there are scouring for cheap, high-yield junk. But the gems are right in front of them. Of course, you’re not going to get a diamond for the price of a cubic zirconia. This stock is trading hands for a P/E ratio of 24, which is a bit above its five-year average of 23. But not egregiously so. Take a look at this one on dips.

Dividend Increaser #2: Union Pacific Corporation (UNP)

Union Pacific just boosted their dividend by 10.3%.

I love the railroads. Things have to move. And they are going to move in the fastest, cheapest, and most efficient way possible. With it being nearly impossible to build a new railroad nowadays, the entrenched players are practically printing money.

This marks the 15th consecutive year of dividend increases for the railroad.

Choo-choo. All aboard to ever-more dividends, because that’s where Union Pacific is taking you. This company has doubled its EPS and quadrupled its dividend over the last decade. A train horn suddenly sounds like money.

The big bummer here is that the stock isn’t cheap.

Again, though, if you want quality, you have to pay a quality valuation. That’s just how it goes. You get what you pay for in life. The stock’s P/E ratio of almost 30 is rich, no doubt. But if this stock corrects with market weakness, put it on your list. Because this thing can leave the station fast.

Dividend Increaser #3: Masco Corp. (MAS)

Masco gave their shareholders a monstrous 67.9% “pay raise” via their dividend increase.

Yes. You heard that right. Almost 68%. If that doesn’t go to show you the incredible power of dividend growth investing, I’m not sure what will.

This is the eight consecutive year of dividend increases for the home improvement products company.

With housing and home improvement going absolutely gangbusters in the USA right now, I’d be willing to bet there’s plenty more where this dividend increase came from. I wouldn’t expect near-70% dividend increases to come in every year, but the payout ratio is still low, at less than 35%.

Surprisingly, this stock doesn’t trade at a massive premium.

The P/E ratio is 21.3. That’s not unreasonable in this market. And it’s right in line with its own five-year average. With the company positioned so well, and with this absolute whopper of a dividend increase showing a lot of confidence from management, this is a very interesting dividend growth stock to take a look at.

— Jason Fieber

P.S. If you’d like access to my entire six-figure dividend growth stock portfolio, as well as stock trades I make with my own money, I’ve made all of that available exclusively through Patreon.

Source: DividendsAndIncome.com

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