As the largest publicly traded company in the world, Apple (AAPL -1.22%) attracts its fair share of attention from the investment community.
And as such, divining what Apple may or may not do in any given quarter can take on an almost sporting-like quality in the run-up to its earnings report on April 23. Expect plenty of chatter about what it has in store for its investors to only increase in the weeks ahead.
However, in my mind, there's one aspect of Apple's coming earnings report that seems highly likely, and that's the fact that Apple's due for a dividend hike when it reports.
The case for an Apple dividend increase
The base case for exactly why Apple will likely raise its dividend starts with the fact that it will have maintained the same $3.05 payout for three consecutive quarters, which is the number of quarters that passed before Apple raised its payout last year. As we all know, Apple's not exactly short for cash, either.
However, just how much Apple will raise its dividend is another matter of grand uncertainty. However, in the video below, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner breaks down this storyline and suggests a few different routes Apple could choose if, or when, it increases its dividend later this month.
