One of the great things about dividend stocks is, not only do they pay you to own them, often they increase how much they're paying out. Many companies pay and increase their dividends for 10 years, 25 years, and (in the case of Dividend Kings) even 50 years or more.

Predicting which companies will increase their dividends is easier than you might think. But sometimes, the timing can be less predictable. Indeed, stocks that I would have featured for this article -- including Domino's Pizza, Waste Management, and Universal Display -- already announced a dividend hike in recent weeks, just before I could highlight them.

Here's why it's relatively easy to find dividend-growth companies: Management teams generally like to continue dividend streaks once they get going. And dividends are paid from a company's earnings. Therefore, when companies already pay a dividend and have consistent earnings far above what's needed to cover the dividend, these are good candidates for dividend increases.

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Source Fool.com