Let's take a brief look at a couple companies that reported quarterly earnings this week that couldn't be more different: one sells candy while the other sells telecommunication services. Both, however, pay dividends, although one is set at a much higher yield than the other.

We'll go with the confectioner first. Hershey (HSY) issued second-quarter results that I thought were appealing. According to the press release, sales increased more than 5%, and on an adjusted basis, net income jumped 19% to 51 cents per share. Analysts believed the business was capable of delivering only 46 cents per share. This is a nice follow-up to the first-quarter release.

Hershey (HSY) had some positive news for shareholders today. According to the company's fourth-quarter report, net income increased a little under 7% to 63 cents per diluted share. That was three pennies better than expectations, as Earnings.com indicates.

It's good to come in ahead of estimates, but even better, management saw fit to increase the quarterly payout on the common stock by well over 7%. Shareholders will now get 32 cents per share every three months. As much as I enjoy an earnings beat, I love dividend increases even more. Sure, they might not mean much to traders, but for individuals who actually own stocks for purposes of building core portfolios, this is sweet news.