If you're looking at dividend stocks to add to your portfolio, you should prioritize ones that increase their payouts. As investors and consumers know all too well by now, inflation has the ability to chip away at purchasing power. For dividend stocks, it means the dividend you collect today will be less valuable in the future -- unless the company increases it.

Dividend increases won't always fully offset the effects of inflation, but by investing in businesses that strive to raise their payouts consistently, you can at least increase the odds that your Dividend income will rise in the future.

Three stocks that have raised their dividend payments in recent years are Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). And they could all announce another round of increases later this month.

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Source Fool.com