Cramer Touts Dividend Growers (APD, NAT, MMM, GE)

It looks like Jim Cramer is doing a new feature list of companies this week that may actually grow their dividends or that have boosted dividends.  On tonight’s MAD MONEY on CNBC, Cramer noted Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) as a gasses company that said it has growing conviction.  He noted that the company’s record date or his “must own date” is March 27, and he thinks that the higher dividend would come after that.  He noted that the earnings cover the dividend 2.2-times over.  It does have a currency problem, but it would be a great weak dollar play.

Cramer also brought on CEO Herbjorn Hansson of Nordic American Tanker (NYSE: NAT) to discuss whether the company’s earnings are strong and to speak about the dividend.  He said WE SHALL NOT CUT OUR DIVIDEND, but he did say the dividend will follow the market: “Higher market, higher dividend; lower market; lower dividend.”  Hansson also noted that he’d take advantage of acquisitions when he could, but acquisitions would be made if they increased the ability to pay out the dividend.  The CEO also noted that the recent secondary was not dilutive.  Cramer said this is the only tanker stock that he would endorse right now, although the dividend reasoning may be a bit “tied to the market” for the feature reference here in a classic sense.

If this dividend segment sounds familiar as a feature from us, we recently ran a list of about ten big companies which we think have safe dividends.  That was run when every company under the sun was cutting dividends in the financial sector.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) is another stock which recently hiked its quarterly payout to holders, which was shortly before General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) cut its payout.  3M shares are up over 20% from recent lows and it is supposed to be one of the “safer conglomerates” if there is such a thing.  If Cramer is going to tout dividend growers, then this hike here is not so long ago that we think Cramer would discount it.

Again, this sounds like Cramer is going to be featuring higher dividend stocks this week.  Oddly enough, we still have a list of companies which we think may actually cut their dividends despite the recent snap back market strength.

Jon C. Ogg
March 23, 2009