More Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies are payingdividends than at any time since January 2000 after Apple Inc.,Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and six other corporations initiated payoutsthis year.

The number has risen to 401, according to data compiled byHoward Silverblatt, S&P's senior index analyst. His estimatefor total payouts this year, which Silverblatt said is underreview, is a record $279 billion.

Nasdaq OMX, the second-biggest U.S. operator of stock exchanges,announced its first dividend yesterday. Apple, the world's biggestcompany by market value, unveiled one in March after canceling itsprogram in 1996. Exxon Mobil Corp. increased its dividend yesterdayfor the 30th straight year, making its $10.7 billion annualdistribution the largest in the world, according toSilverblatt.

Companies are increasing shareholder returns in the form ofdividends and buybacks after the 2008 financial crisis led them tohoard cash to a record $1 trillion by the end of 2011. The rise inpayouts coincides with a 13th quarter of better-than-estimatedearnings.

“Given underlying fundamentals, low payouts and cash reserves,2012 should set a record high for cash dividend payments,”Silverblatt wrote in an e-mail today.

S&P 500 companies distributed a record $248 billion in cashto shareholders in 2008, when 372 companies paid dividends,according to his report.

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