NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Indices announced today that dividend increases reached $50.2 billion in 2011, an 89.2% rise over the $26.5 billion in dividend increases posted in 2010. For the full year, S&P Indices reported 1,953 dividend increases - a 13.0% jump over the 1,729 dividend increases reported in 2010. Only 101 companies, of the approximately 7,000 publicly that report dividend information, decreased their dividend in 2011 versus 145 in 2010.

"Dividends had a great year in 2011, with actual cash payments increasing over 16% and the forward indicated dividend rate up 18%," says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at S&P Indices. "Payout rates (which historically average 52%) remain near their lows at under 30%, yields remain relatively high compared to alternative investments, and companies have strong cash-flow and cash reserves giving them considerable room to increase payments. At this point, we expect 2012 to set a new record for dividend payments, with the indicated rate surpassing the old record set in June of 2008."

For the fourth quarter of 2011, dividend increases decline 6.8% with 649 issues increasing their dividends versus the 698 that did so during the fourth quarter of 2010. The percentage of issues paying a dividend increased in the fourth quarter, with 41.4% of the issues paying a cash dividend, up from 40.0% at the end of the third quarter. Silverblatt also determined that yields for paying issues decreased to 2.80% at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 2.99% at the end of the third quarter.

"Yields still remain relatively high, with the quarterly decline due mostly to the 11% price increase," notes Silverblatt. "The fourth quarter decline in dividend increases was the result of a sharp 44% increase in Q4 2010, as the market entered a recovery period."

Additionally, Silverblatt reports that individual investors have saved $314 billion on qualified dividend tax cuts from 2003 through 2011, with another $44 billion in saving expected in 2012 before the legislation expires. "As Washington works through revenue requirements and expenditures, the post 2012 tax outlook treatment for dividends is very much in play," adds Silverblatt.

"For 2012, we expect to see dividend increases continue across the board for all sectors with another double-digit gain in actual cash payments.  Given underlying fundamentals, low payouts and cash reserves, we expect 2012 to set a new record for dividends despite lingering concerns over the economy."

To download S&P Indices Dividend Report, please visit the following web address: www.marketattributes.standardandpoors.com and click on "S&P Dividend Report". For more information about S&P Indices, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.  

The above estimates assume levels of direct S&P 500 ownership and dividend qualifications based on historical data. The assumptions for non-S&P 500 are based on broader indicators and not as well documented.

About S&P Indices

S&P Indices, a leading brand of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

SOURCE S&P Indices