FMC Corporation (FMC) will raise its quarterly dividend by 142.4 percent to $0.40 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018. This marks the first dividend hike since 2015 for the agricultural chemicals company.

The increased dividend is payable on January 17, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 28, 2018. This equates to $1.60 per share, annually, compared to $0.66 per share previously and yields 1.9% at a stock price of $83.22.

The company's dividend policy going forward is to increase the dividend at least at the same rate as net income grows. The Board also has authorized an initial $1 billion share repurchase program, which FMC expects to execute in a systematic, recurring fashion through mid-2020. This is separate from the current $200 million program, which is expected to be completed this week. Together, this dividend increase and share repurchase authorization are part of a capital allocation plan to return up to $4.5 billion to shareholders in the next five years.

"We are confident about our future as an innovation-based company with strong revenue and earnings growth and accelerating cash generation," said Pierre Brondeau, FMC chief executive officer and chairman.

FMC Corporation provides solutions to growers around the world with a portfolio of proprietary crop protection products and a robust pipeline fueled by innovative discovery and development capabilities in crop protection, plant health and professional pest and turf maintenance solutions. In October 2018, FMC conducted an initial public offering of its Lithium business. The new company, Livent Corporation, is approximately 85 percent owned by FMC and is expected to be spun off on March 1, 2019.