Fast growing Washington Mutual joined the swelling ranks of companies that are hiking dividends this year with back-to-back boosts in January and April. Bullish sign? Actually, it should set off alarm bells. The thrift, a big mortgage lender, is vulnerable to interest-rate hikes that have been casting a pall on the refinancing market What's more, WAMU is spending heavily on expansion to open scores of branches across the country. So, hiking its quarterly dividend by first 2c a share and then by another penny, to $1.72 annually, seems puzzling. Sure enough, after rising about 5 a share earlier this year, to around 45, the stock has slipped below 39 as money managers have cooled to it. "Volatile," warns Charles Carlson, who heads Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Ind.
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