Booster Income: 3 Stocks That Increase Their Dividends by 15% to 33%

As the market continues to be volatile through the end of the first quarter, many investors are turning to equity stocks to avoid the sell-off that has plagued growth stocks since late 2025.

But for several dividend payers, the expected slow and steady growth traditionally isn’t what they’ve been offering investors. Instead, some companies that offer strong yields have seen stellar performance over the past year. And now, they are rewarding shareholders with eye-catching increases in their profits.

That’s certainly the case for three key stocks operating in some of the hottest industries in the market, including one of the world’s biggest names in the semiconductor industry, a precious metals giant, and Israel’s rising star in the aerospace and defense sectors.

Let’s analyze the key stock issues from these three companies.

AMAT Announces Strong Budget Increase After +100% Run

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT ), a key player within the semiconductor ecosystem, is ranked among the world’s top three most valuable stocks in the wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) industry. The various machines offered by the company are essential for the manufacture of advanced semiconductors.

Applied Materials has performed incredibly strongly over the past 52 weeks, delivering a total return of over 140%. This didn’t come as a result of big post-earnings gains, though shares did gain a whopping 8% after the company beat estimates in its last quarter. This triple-digit upward movement has come in spite of revenue is down 2% year over year.

Instead, the stock has been appreciating because of strong manufacturing capacity around processor and memory chips. In response, investors rightly expect that Applied Materials will see strong long-term demand as its customers require more equipment to increase capacity. Notably, the company expects its semiconductor equipment segment revenue to increase by more than 20% by 2026, which would mark the segment’s fastest growth rate since 2021.

To go along with its impressive recent performance, Applied Materials recently announced a significant 15% increase in its quarterly dividend. Its payout will rise to 53 cents per share, and its next dividend will be paid on June 11 to shareholders of record on March 21.

Precious Metals Streamer Wheaton Raises Profits 18%

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE: WPM ) was also a winning stock, delivering a total return of nearly 50% over the past 52 weeks. As its name suggests, the company is a major player in the precious metal industry. However, Wheaton is not a gold or silver miner, but rather a precious metals distributor.

Instead of mining, streaming companies provide upfront money to both old and young miners that is used to build and explore precious metal mines, and the subsequent mining of those metals. In exchange, distributors get the right to buy a percentage of the ore produced by the mine, often at a discount of 80% or more to the spot price. Dealers then have the opportunity to sell the metal and see the spread between their purchase price and the spot price. Therefore, streamers provide an interesting alternative within precious metals investing without physical capital or miners.

By 2025, 62% of Wheaton’s revenue came from gold spreads, 39% from silver spreads, and the rest from other metals. As these two metals have seen their prices rise over the past year, Wheaton has done well. Next, the company recently announced a massive 18% dividend increase, raising its quarterly payout to 19.5 cents per share.

This increase is several times larger than the 6% dividend increase the company announced at this time last year. The precious metal streamer will pay its next dividend on April 10 to shareholders of record on March 31.

ESLT Raises Budget Over 30% While Sitting at +$25B Backlog

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT ) has been a big beneficiary of the global hedge fund boom, seeing its share price deliver a total return of nearly 120% over the past 52 weeks. The company has recorded a solid but unspectacular revenue growth of 16% through 2025.

However, one of the main reasons for the big move in this stock is the company’s large backlog. By the end of 2025, that number stands at about $28 billion. For reference, that’s about 3.5 times more than the $7.9 billion in full-year revenue the company is forecasting by 2025. This gives visibility to greater sales in the coming years.

Notably, Elbit generates significant revenue in all geographic regions. By 2025, Europe accounted for 27% of sales, North America for 21%, Asia Pacific for 16%, and Israel for 32%. The firm notes that 72% of the backlog comes from countries outside of Israel, which should lead to increased diversification over time. Elbit identified Europe as a driver of meaningful growth going forward, likely due to those countries working to achieve NATO’s long-term goals.

In conjunction with its latest earnings report—which included the eighth consecutive quarter of revenue—Elbit announced a massive 33% increase in its quarterly dividend. This pushes its distribution up to $1 per share. The company will pay its next dividend on April 27 to shareholders of record on April 13.

Despite Major Improvements, AMAT Yields, WPM, and ESLT Are Playing Catch-Up

These names all have relatively low yields in their industries, and all three are clearly working to support their dividend yields with significant increases. When stocks post big gains, it’s often difficult for yields to continue.

Take Elbit for example. Despite increasing its payout significantly, its yield for new investors today is much lower than the 1% range it stood at in May 2024. This comes as the stock posted a meteoric +350% price gain during that period.

Companies mentioned in this article:

Company	Current Price	Price Changes	Dividend Yield	The P/E ratio	Consensus ratio	Consensus Price Target
Materials (AMAT)	$364.33	+2.0%	0.51%	37.27	Buy Medium	$363.46
Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM)	$119.19	+4.0%	0.55%	36.73	Buy Medium	$145.18
Elbit Systems (ESLT)	$905.00	-1.7%	0.25%	79.63	Hold on	$550.33

About Leo Miller

Experience

Leo Miller has been a contributing writer for DividendStocks.com since 2024.

• Professional Background: Leo Miller is a financial writer with a background in investment research and market analysis. He held roles as an investment research partner at Laird Norton Wetherby and as a research analyst at Sungarden Investment Publishing, where he gained extensive experience in valuation and portfolio strategies.
• Confirmation: He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, a top-ranked public business school. Passed the CFA Level II exam.
• Financial Experience: Leo started researching and investing in gold mining stocks in 2019 and started writing about finance and investing in 2021. He joined DividendStocks.com as a contributing writer in 2024, where he covers both stocks and ETFs. A strong research base and direct exposure to the financial markets shape his opinions.
• Writing Focus: He specializes in technology stocks, dividend-paying companies, ETFs, and value-oriented opportunities. His work emphasizes clarity, practical understanding, and education for investors at all levels.
• How to Invest: Leo follows a disciplined, long-term investment strategy based on fundamental analysis, with a strong focus on economics, industry and sector research, and passive investment principles.
• Motivation: Leo finds the stock market endlessly compelling and enjoys the challenge of separating meaningful data from the noise. He is passionate about analyzing what makes businesses stand out—and sharing that insight to guide informed investment decisions. As he puts it, “Strong analysis requires separating the wheat from the chaff.”
• Fun fact: Leo credits his grandfather with sparking his interest in investing and is a lifelong animal lover.
• Areas of Expertise: Fundamental analysis, economics, industry and sector analysis

Education

Bachelor in Business Administration, Finance, Foster School of Business at the University of Washington