GE Increases Its Dividend

General Electric (NYSE: GE) has just announced that the company was raising its quarterly dividend 20%, from $0.10 to $0.12, starting in October. The company, which is often seen as a proxy for the U.S. economy, cited "continued strong cash generation, recovery at GE Capital, and solid underlying performance in our Industrial businesses through the first half of 2010" as a reason for boosting the dividend earlier than previously hinted. The company is also reinstating its share buyback program.

GE cut its dividend by 67% a bit over a year ago to $0.10 per quarter. Even with this increase, the dividend is still far from the $0.31 per quarter that GE was paying before the cut.

Still this is a positive move from the company. I own shares of GE in my RRSP portfolio, where the increase will mean a small $17 per year added to my dividends.