RPM International raises dividend for 44th consecutive year
The quarterly dividend will be increased to $0.32 per share, marking the 44th straight year of higher dividends. Last year RPM raised its dividend for the 43rd year.
The higher dividend will be payable on October 31, 2017, to stockholders of record as of October 16, 2017.
This action marks RPM’s 44th consecutive year of increased cash dividends paid to its stockholders, which places RPM in an elite category of less than half of 1 percent of all 19,000 publicly traded U.S. companies. Only 41 other companies, besides RPM, have consecutively paid an increasing annual dividend for this period of time or longer, according to the 2017 edition of the Mergent Handbook of Dividend Achievers. At a share price of $51.50, RPM's dividend yield would be 2.5 percent.
“The dividend increase today demonstrates our board of directors’ continued confidence in RPM’s performance and long-term prospects for growth,” stated Frank C. Sullivan, chairman and chief executive officer. “Annually increasing the dividend is a key element in rewarding our shareholders with a cumulative total return that has outpaced the S&P 500 by 70 percent and our peers by 28 percent over the ten-year period ended May 31, 2017.”
RPM International Inc. currently has a $6.9 billion market cap. The stock is down 4.1 percent year-to-date.
RPM International Inc. owns subsidiaries that are world leaders in specialty coatings, sealants, building materials and related services across three segments. RPM’s industrial products include roofing systems, sealants, corrosion control coatings, flooring coatings and other construction chemicals.
