Last year, with the market falling and investors suddenly skeptical of corporate accounting, many dividend-paying companies increased their distributions.

It tracks 25 top dividend-paying companies in global shipping.

Microsoft, which joined the ranks of dividend-paying companies this year, announced yesterday that it would double the payout.

The result could be that shares of dividend-paying companies will become more expensive to borrow around the time of dividend or deemed-dividend payments.

Value investors often buy mature, dividend-paying companies with cyclical businesses, like autos, steel or utilities, dependent on the overall economy.

They found that buyback plans have, almost exclusively, been the province of dividend-paying large-cap companies.

In the 1990's, technology stocks, which typically do not pay dividends, overshadowed dividend-paying companies like utilities.

Most dividend-paying companies reconsider their dividends annually, often around the end of the year.

It had been a dividend-paying public company since 1993.

He says he also thinks investors should favor dividend-paying companies with strong balance sheets.