Dividend Aristocrat Sysco Corporation (SYY) will raise its quarterly dividend by 15.4 percent to $0.45 per share in 2020. Last year the dividend was hiked by 8.3 percent.

The next dividend is payable on Jan. 24, 2020, to common stockholders of record at the close of business on Jan. 3, 2020. A new annual rate of $1.80 per share yields 2.2% at a stock price of $81.60.

“We are pleased to once again declare a dividend to be paid to our stockholders, something Sysco has done every quarter since our founding as a public company in 1970,” said Tom Bené, Sysco’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this fiscal year and look to the future, the substantial increase in the dividend announced today reaffirms our confidence in the strategic direction of our business and Sysco’s ongoing commitment to return value to its stockholders.”

Sysco Corporation a distributor of food and related products primarily to the foodservice or food-away-from-home industry. The company sells food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. Sysco has paid a cash dividend every quarter since its founding as a public company in 1970.