Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), the maker of Coors Light and Blue Moon beer, among other brands, announced big increase to its quarterly dividend on the eve of its first-quarter earnings report.

The company raised its payout by 4%, or almost 17%, to 28 cents a share. The new dividend is payable on June 15th to shareholders of record on May 28th.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Denver-based brewer has raised its dividend and the dividend growth for Molson Coors over the past few years is stellar as the new payout represents 75% growth in the payout in the past four years.

Based on Monday's closing price of $44.54, Molson Coors shares would yield about 2.5% when factoring in the new dividend. The current yield is 2.2%.

Analysts expect the company to post earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $636.7 million when it reports earnings on Tuesday. The company earned $75.7 million, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $559 million in the first-quarter of 2009.