The Ring of Fire includes more than 450 volcanoes. It stretches for nearly 25,000 miles, running in the shape of a horseshoe (as opposed to an actual ring) from the southern tip of South America, along the west coast of North America, across the Bering Strait, down through Japan, and into New Zealand.
Well, when IBM raised its dividend to $1.10 from $0.95 a year ago, that was a dividend hike of almost 16%. When the dividend went to $0.95 from $0.85 in 2013, that was a hike of almost 12%. And in 2012, the dividend hike to $0.85 from $0.75 was a payout raise of 13%.
DEFINITION of 'Dividend Aristocrat' A company that has continuously increased the amount of dividends it pays to its shareholders. To be considered a dividend aristocrat, a company must typically have raised dividends for at least 25 years. More specifically, the company needs to have a managed dividend policy that increased its dividend every year for those 25 years.