The A.O. Smith Corporation has increased its quarterly cash dividend by 25 percent, to $.20 per share. The company’s Common Stock and Class A Common Stock are affected.
This is the largest quarterly dividend increase at A.O. Smith in 25 years, and is payable on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 31.
“A. O. Smith has enjoyed profitable performance over the last several years despite the difficulties faced by the U. S. and global economies,” said Paul Jones, chairman and CEO. “Our balance sheet remains strong, and we are confident in our operations’ ability to continue generating the cash needed to support our growth. We believe we have cash and borrowing capacity to enable us to continue to pursue our disciplined acquisition strategy in addition to supporting this increase to our dividend.”
“We recognize the importance our shareholders place on a competitive dividend yield, particularly in this historically low interest rate environment. I am very pleased to note this represents the seventh consecutive year our company has increased its quarterly cash dividend.”
