Niche telecom company ATN International (NASDAQ: ATNI) attracted much interest this week. As a result, its share price was up by nearly 16% week to date as of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. A hefty dividend raise was the action that shined the spotlight on the stock.

If you're a relatively obscure, publicly traded business, one of the best ways to get noticed is to make a dramatic move with your dividend. On Monday, ATN pulled the trigger on one of the most substantial quarterly dividend raises in its history, boosting the payout by 24% to $0.21 per share. The new distribution, to be paid next Jan. 6 to investors of record as of this coming Dec. 31, would yield 1.8% at the stock's most recent closing price. 

ATN is an offbeat telecom play that concentrates on providing services to relatively remote and under-served areas. This is a challenging business, and while the company has posted top-line growth recently (with revenue rising by 9% year over year in the most recently reported quarter), it tends to book regular net losses.

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Source Fool.com