Ka-Ching! PNC just gave me a 14% raise

PNC Financial Services (PNC) announced on Thursday that it's raising its quarterly dividend by 14%. The dividend of 40 cents per share, up from 35 cents previously, will be paid May 5 to shareholders of record as of April 17.

This dividend increase follows a 250% increase last year at this time ($0.10 to $0.35).  I wrote about PNC last October and its potential for future dividend increases and on Thursday it did not disappoint.  Last month PNC passed the Federal Reserve's "stress test" which determines if a bank has enough capital to withstand an extreme economic downturn.  This was a big roadblock to pass before being able to make such a sizable dividend increase.

Dividend Stock Analysis: Intel (INTC)

Ok, so we've covered why we should be investing in dividend stocks and how to get started. so now its time to have some (nerdy) fun and analyze a specific dividend stock.

Intel (INTC) represents the largest holding in my portfolio.  I have been allocating it for several years now and will continue to do so while the price, in my opinion, is undervalued.  What I really love about Intel is that it is paying around a 4% dividend yield, which is unheard of for a technology company.  I plan to analyze the Technology sector and their growing popularity as viable dividend stocks in later posts, but lets focus just on Intel for now.