Standard & Poor’s said 97 publicly traded companies decreased their dividend during the second quarter of 2008. This is a nearly five-fold increase from last year’s second quarter. The 97 declines in the quarter is the most since 1990, when 108 issues decreased their dividend.

On a dollar basis, Financials and Consumer Discretionary stocks, had the largest dividend reductions. The Financial sector saw reductions in annual payments by over $13 billion and increases of only $3 billion. Some financial stocks which recently cut their dividends include: Wachovia, Citigroup, Washington Mutual, National City and Fifth Third Bancorp.

Special dividends are much more uncommon these days. Whereas 2007 saw a record year for special dividends - both in number of announcements and total dollars amount - SmartDividend only tracked 12 special dividends so far this year.

Finally, most REIT saw their profit plummet, whipping out some of the largest-yield quarterly dividends in the process.

General Growth Properties will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.500 on Jul 31st to holders as of Tuesday, July 15. The current dividend represents an increase of 11 percent over the comparable period one year ago.

CenturyTel will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.700 on Jul 21st if you own the stock at market opening on Wednesday, July 2. That’s 2% of the share price of $35.490, or a 8% annual yield. Part of a big hike in the company\’s annual cash dividend to $2.80 from $0.27 per share. This one actually includes a one-time dividend of $0.6325 per share, effectively adjusting the total second quarter dividend to the new $0.70 quarterly dividend rate. The new annual dividend rate of $2.80 represents a whopping payout of 52% of free cash flow. And the company still has a large stock repurchase program ongoing. That does not leave much cash for investing in the business however.

Educational Development will pay a special dividend of $0.400 on May 19th to holders as of Wednesday, May 7. That’s 6.2% of the share price of $6.450. 30 cents out of 40 corresponds to a regular quarterly dividend (up from 22 cents last quarter), with the remaining 10 cents being the special dividend. The dividend will be paid entirely out of cash reserve, and the company has no outstanding debt… always a very good sign.

National Health Investors, a health care financial REIT, will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.630 on May 9th if you own the stock at market opening on Thursday, March 27. That’s 2.1% of the share price of $30.200, or a 8% annual yield. Includes a special dividend of 8 cents.

iStar Financial, a commercial financial REIT, will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.870 on Apr 30th if you own the stock at market opening on Thursday, March 13. That’s 3.9% of the share price of $22.170, or a 16% annual yield.

LaCrosse Footwear will pay a special dividend of $1.125 on Mar 18th if you own the stock at market opening on Wednesday, February 20. That’s 6.7% of the share price of $16.750. Includes a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share.

Sonesta Hotels will pay a special dividend of $1.000 on Feb 12th if you own the stock at market opening on Wednesday, January 30. That’s 3.6% of the share price of $27.500.

Sun Communities, a residential REIT, will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.630 on Jan 22nd to holders as of Wednesday, January 9. That’s 3.2% of the share price of $19.520, or a 13% annual yield. Dividend is flat over last two quarters… quite an achievement for a real-estate company those days. Their strategy of converting the renters at its communities to buyers upon the completion of the leases is cushioning SUI from the housing slowdown.

National Health Investors, a health care financial REIT, will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $1.350 on Jan 31st if you own the stock at market opening on Thursday, December 27. That’s 4.6% of the share price of $29, or a 18% annual yield. Includes a special dividend of 85 cents.

Omega Flex, a manufacturer of flexible metal hose, will pay a special dividend of $0.700 on Jan 17th to holders as of Monday, December 31. That’s 5% of the share price of $14.050. This will be the second special dividend the company has declared since going public in 2005.

JER Investors Trust, a mortgage REIT, will pay a special dividend of $1.100 on Jan 30th if you own the stock at market opening on Wednesday, December 26. That’s 9.7% of the share price of $11.350. Includes a 65 cents special dividend on top of the 45 cents regular dividend.

Rubber and plastic manufacturer Myers Industries will pay a special dividend of $0.340 on Jan 2nd to holders as of Tuesday, December 18. That’s 2.4% of the share price of $14.250. Includes a 6 cents regular dividend. This is part of an agreement that extends the closing date of its $1.1 billion acquisition by Goldman Sachs. I d skip playing the run up here, though, as there is some concern the acquisition may not come through, as reflected by the downward trend of the share ( Stock trades 26% below its 50 days moving average and 31% below its 200 days moving average).

Imperial Sugar will pay a special dividend of $2.500 on Jan 3rd to holders as of Thursday, December 20. That’s 12.9% of the share price of $19.450. Like many commodities, Sugar seems to be a good business those days, with gross margins above 15% for the second year in a row. The company already paid a $3 special dividend one year ago. Watch out for the downward trend here ( Stock trades 18% below its 50 days moving average and 28% below its 200 days moving average).

City Bank, will pay a dividend of $1.000 on Jan 11th if you own the stock at market opening on Wednesday, December 19. That’s 4.5% of the share price of $22.390.