At a time when investors are clamoring for income, U.S. corporations remain too stingy with dividends.

The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index has a dividend yield of just 2%, one of the lowest of any major global market. European stocks yield an average of nearly 5%, and even the historically low-yielding Japanese stock market pays 2.5%.

American companies have the wherewithal to raise dividends because profits are at record levels and the payout ratio—the percentage of profits paid out in dividends—is near an all-time low at 28%. It has averaged 40% over the past 20 years. Most companies can afford to pay at least a 2% dividend, and many big companies are capable of paying close to 4%. Among them are ExxonMobil (ticker: XOM), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Google (GOOG). In the banking sector, regulatory constraints are keeping a lid on dividends, but a capital-rich JPMorgan Chase (JPM) could get the go-ahead to lift its dividend to almost 4% this year.  Full Story