Jim Trippon, CPA

In the world of dividend stocks, some companies just don't get it. They punish shareholders by reducing or eliminating their payout to make amends for the company's misdeeds and mismanagement.

On the other hand, there are those companies that have mastered the art of rewarding shareholders and one of those companies is food giant General Mills (NYSE: GIS). Yeah, the food sector has been nothing short of stellar in recent months when it comes to dividend hikes, but General Mills may wear the crown.

The maker of Cheerios, Pillsbury, Green Giant and Betty Crocker, among dozens of other brands that probably reside in your pantry, has raised its dividend twice in 2009. That's right, two dividend hikes from a single company in the same year.

General Mills is one of the largest food companies in the world and its newest dividend increase is for two cents, taking the quarterly payout to 49 cents a share from 47 cents. Before the increase, the shares were yielding 2.8%. For 2009, General Mills pay dividends of $1.72 a share. In 2010, that total will rise more than 12%.

Some companies don't have a dividend growth rate of 12% for five years, let alone one year, making General Mills all the more impressive. Compared against chief rival Kraft (NYSE: KFT), which suspended dividend increases earlier this year, "Big G" is all the more inviting.

General Mills paid dividend of 43 cents a share for the first two quarters of this year and 47 cents for third and current quarters. The new dividend will be paid on February 1 to shareholders of record on January 11.

You know how we love dividend histories and General Mills' dividend resume is impeccable. The payout has nearly doubled in the past decade and the company has paid an uncut, uninterrupted dividend for well over 100 years.