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American Express
,

Oracle
,
and Johnson Controls were among the large U.S. companies that declared dividend increases this week. It was a fairly light week for such announcements, with earnings season having slowed down.

Credit card and travel company American Express (ticker: AXP) said it will pay a quarterly disbursement of 60 cents a share, a 15% increase from 52 cents a share. The stock, which yields 1.5%, has a one-year return of 3.5% through March 9, including dividends, compared with minus 7% for the

S&P 500
.

Oracle (ORCL) said it will raise its quarterly dividend to 40 cents a share, up 25% from 32 cents a share. The stock, which has a one-year return of 16%, yields 1.5%.

Johnson Controls International

(JCI) said it will boost its quarterly dividend by a penny to 36 cents a share for an increase of nearly 3%. The stock, which yields 2.3%, has a one-year return of 3%.

General Dynamics

(GD) declared a quarterly payout of $1.32 a share, up 6 cents, or nearly 5%. Shares of the aerospace and defense company yield 2.4%, and they have a one-year return of minus 4%.

Consumer products company

Colgate-Palmolive

(CL) said it will pay a quarterly dividend of 48 cents a share, up from 47 cents a share. The stock, which has a one-year return of minus 3%, yields 2.6%.

Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at lawrence.strauss@barrons.com