Shareholders count on dividends more than ever these days to protect their portfolios against volatile markets. Companies hoarding cash since the start of the recession are beginning to pass on some of it to their shareholders in the form of increased dividends, but it’s unlikely to match the boom of a decade ago.
Moody’s Investors Service estimates that US nonfinancial corporations were sitting on $1.84 trillion in cash in the first quarter of this year—a 27-percent increase from early 2007.
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