Dividend Aristocrat Nucor (NUE) will hike its dividend by 2% to $0.51 quarterly per share. This marks the 50th consecutive year of dividend growth by the steel company. The dividend yield for NUE is 1.5% at a stock price of $136. Last year Nucor surprised with a massive 23.5% dividend hike.

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada.  Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh.  Through The David J. Joseph Company, Nucor also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler. Nucor has increased its regular, or base, dividend every year since it first began paying dividends in 1973.