One of the great things about stocks is that some offer investors both long-term price appreciation potential and dividend income. But picking the right dividend stocks is key to good long-term results. After all, what good is a stream of income if the stock price gets crushed or the payout is, at some point, reduced or even eliminated?

For investors who want to add some income to their portfolio, here is one company that isn't just paying a nice dividend to investors but is increasing its payout. Even more, it is paying out a fraction of its earnings in dividends, increasing the odds of more dividend growth in the future. The company we're talking about is cloud software specialist Oracle (NYSE: ORCL).

If the world is uncertain and the outlook is gloomy, you wouldn't know it by Oracle's recent dividend increase announcement. The company said in its fiscal third-quarter earnings release last week that it was increasing its quarterly cash dividend by 25% to $0.40. This translates to $1.28 annually, giving Oracle stock a dividend yield of 1.9%.

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Source Fool.com