I realize that this isn’t my usual post, but I thought it was such good news I wanted to share it with everyone. This is especially good news for those of us that love Costco so much we’ve bought their stock in bulk too. Costco is one of the few stocks that I actually own (not including stuff in mutual funds) because I figured that I loved the store so much I should own a little piece of it.

While the share price for Costco has dropped in the past 12 months, much like everything else.  It was trading at $71 per share a year ago and is now trading at $47.07 per share (as of yesterday); it’s taken a bit of a beating.  However, they are faring better than a lot of retail stocks.  If you own Costco stock, you know that they were already paying a respectable 16 cents per share, but the board decided to increase their dividend amount by a little over 10% to 18 cents per share quarterly, or $0.72 per share on an annualized basis. The next dividend, at the new 18 cents per share amount, will be paid on May 29, 2009.

• Costco.com News Release: Costco Wholesale Corporation Announces an Increase in Quarterly Cash Dividend