Dividends aren't mandatory -- they are paid at the discretion of a company's board of directors. Most companies don't like to cut dividends, so they generally only increase them when the business can support the hike over the long term. This seems like basic logic, but when you look at dividends with this lens, it changes the information you collect from a board's dividend decisions.

Here's a look at what dividend decisions have been saying about Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA), (NYSE: NUE), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), and Stanley Black Decker (NYSE: SWK).

Walgreens is one of the largest drugstore operators in the United States. The industry has been in a state of flux lately as it looks for new ways to grow. Walgreens tried its hand at benefits management, but that didn't work out. Then it shifted, along with its rivals, to operating healthcare clinics.

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Source Fool.com