Schweitzer-Mauduit International (SWM) will raise its quarterly dividend by 2.3 percent to $0.44 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018. This marks the 7th consecutive year of annual dividend increases by the tobacco paper company.

The dividend will be payable on December 21, 2018 to stockholders of record as of November 30, 2018. Last year the dividend was also hiked by 1 cent to 43 cents per share quarterly.

A new annualized dividend of $1.76 per share for SWM yields 5.7% at a stock price of $31.06.

Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. (SWM) is a diversified producer of engineered papers, films, nets, and non-wovens for a variety of applications and industries. The Engineered Papers segment is primarily focused on supplying major cigarette manufacturers with a variety of specialty papers.  Its Advanced Materials & Structures segment produces resin-based plastic netting through an extrusion process, as well as certain meltblown products, machined plastic core tubes, urethane films, and resin-based rolled products.