Susan Spratlen, a Pioneer spokeswoman, didn't respond to a telephone message or e-mail seeking comment.
"We've seen that dividends are a huge way for you to lower risk and lower volatility in the assets that you're buying," said Dan Neiman, who helps manage the Neiman Large Cap Value Fund, which beat 97% of peers in the past five years. "The earnings growth we're seeing is going to translate down the road to more dividend payout."
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, raised its dividend by 21% to 36.5 cents on March 3. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has increased its payout every year since 1974, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Wal-Mart doesn't have any plans to increase its dividend further than the March 3 announcement, according to Greg Rossiter, a company spokesman.
"The big multinational, big dividend payers continue to be where the value is," Michael Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York, said last week in a Bloomberg Television interview. He owns Wal-Mart shares and said he would "absolutely" buy more, "given the cash generation they do, the dividends they are going to be paying in the future, the kinds of things they're doing for shareholders."