Franklin Electric (FELE) will raise its quarterly dividend by 20.8 percent to $0.145 per share in 2019. This marks the 27th consecutive year of annual dividend increases by the industrial company.

The next dividend is payable February 15, 2019, to shareholders of record on February 1, 2019. A new annualized rate of 58 cents per share yields 1.3% at a stock price of $46.29.

“With our strong financial performance and increased focus on cash generation, our Board of Directors has approved a substantial increase in our dividend. Further, for more than twenty-five years our practice has been to increase our dividend in the second quarter.  We have elected to make this change in the first quarter to align it with the calendar year.”

Franklin Electric Co., Inc. is a global leader in the manufacturing and distribution of products and systems focused on the movement and management of water and fuel. FELE offers pumps, motors, drives, and controls for use in a wide variety of residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and municipal applications.  Founded in 1944 and incorporated in 1946, Franklink Electric is named after America’s pioneer electrical engineer, Benjamin Franklin. The company manufactured the first waterlubricated submersible motor for water systems, and the first submersible motor for fueling systems.