The holiday season is a special time for everyone. But for some income investors, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

That’s because this is the time of year when a select few investors are treated to a little “gift” in the form of a dividend hike. And if the company in question is feeling particularly generous, investors may even be treated to a special dividend.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

As you may know, each month, over at High-Yield Investing, I screen for stocks that are likely put more cash in your pocket. Ideally, we are looking for hikes that could happen over the next four to six weeks. I also highlight noteworthy special distributions on the horizon. I give special attention to outsized double-digit increases and reliable dividend-payers that have steadily grown payouts for a decade or more.

As usual, I give my premium readers a head start before sharing them with everybody else. And this month is particularly special, because I shared details on a company that routinely pays a special dividend around this time of year.

I’ll have more to share about special dividends in the coming weeks (more details on what they are, and why you should consider them). But for now, let’s dive in…

A Christmas “Gift” In December…

Universal Insurance Holdings (NYSE: UVE) may have a fairly generic name. And on the surface, this Florida-based property & casualty insurer seems no different than most of its peers. It offers a standard line of policies to protect homeowners’ and renters’ dwellings and personal property across 19 states, mostly in the Midwest and along the East Coast.

Those products are marketed through an internal sales force, 10,000 independent agents, and online channels. The company has nearly 1 million policies in force (985,000) and rates an ‘A’ for financial stability from independent ratings agencies.

But when it comes to dividends, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill insurer.

Universal Insurance is one of just a small handful of businesses that pay a fifth dividend each year. Shareholders are treated to four regular dividends of $0.16 per quarter, or $0.64 annually. That provides a healthy yield of 4% — double the market average.

But the company also supplements that base distribution with a special variable dividend payable at the end of the fiscal year. Actually, there isn’t much variation. Shareholders were treated to a special disbursement of $0.13 per share at the end of 2019. It also paid out $0.13 per share in 2020. And then $0.13 again in 2021. And the same thing happened last year.

Care to guess this year’s bonus? Yep, there is another $0.13 on the way on December 15th to shareholders of record on December 8th. Remember, that’s on top of the regular distribution for a total payout of $0.29 per share.

That fifth extra payment bumps the annual payout to $0.77 per share in 2022 – which lifts the yield to 4.7%. This marks the 12th straight year UVE has dished out a special dividend.

The disciplined company has weathered Hurricane Idalia claims (no pun intended) this year and continues to win business, writing half a billion in new premiums last quarter. Along the way, it has invested $12.3 million to repurchase 894,000 shares. In turn, the adjusted book value per share has increased by 13.5% to $14.00.

Action To Take

With moderating loss and expense ratios benefiting underwriting results, I see another positive year for UVE on the horizon.

In the meantime, I plan to cover more of my favorite special dividend payers in the as we close out the year. We’ve had a pretty good run of finding solid ideas from this exercise, so it pays to follow along. If you’re looking for a potential addition to your income portfolio, I can’t think of a better place to start your search.

But remember, just because I highlight stocks likely to increase dividends doesn’t necessarily make them “buys.” These are merely ideas to start the hunt for high yields. If you want to know about my favorite high-yield picks, check out my latest report…

You’ll learn about 12 ultra-generous dividend payers that put more money in your pocket. And the best part? They pay dividends monthly. Go here to learn more now.