The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, May 15, edition that several studies show total returns from dividend stocks, especially dividend growers, cream the market index returns and trounce non-dividend payers. The Globe's Michael Bowman writes in the Number Cruncher column that he looked at companies that have raised their dividends this year, and more importantly, examined the payout ratio to see whether they might raise their payouts again. Mr. Bowman only considered companies with more than $250-million in market capitalization that have increased the dividend in 2013. His stock market picks, collectively, had an average one-year total return of 25.8 per cent. Mr. Bowman says companies that boost dividends can be stellar investments for income or total-return strategies. He says his picks are capable of growing free cash flow and have disciplined management groups that are focused on generating shareholder value. Companies that have hiked their dividends this year are Bank of Nova Scotia (with a yield of 3.8 per cent), Evertz Technologies (3.6 per cent), Toronto-Dominion Bank (3.6 per cent), Contrans Group (3.5 per cent), Telus (2.9 per cent) and AutoCanada (2.6 per cent).