How can I tell if a company will continue paying good dividends and possibly increase dividends?

Hi there! You can look at the current financial health of a company. Generally, if the company is consistently doing well and has positive growth prospect, it will most likely continue to pay their dividends. To know if the company will increase dividends is to first determine whether its current dividends is sustainable. The dividend payout ratio will tell you how much of a company's profit are paid out to investors in dividends. A low percentage indicates that the company has plenty of room to pay dividends and potentially will raise dividends in the future. Whereas a high percentage indicates the company can barely pay the dividend and thus less likely to increase dividends.

I think you should also look at what investors think of the stock as well. Some stocks are known for their capital gains return while others for their dividend yield. Management, when deciding what kind of dividend policies to adopt, will probably look at what their investors think of their stocks as well. The market sentiment should be able to provide some insight.