Anthem Inc (ANTM) will raise its quarterly dividend by 18.8 percent to $0.95 per share in 2020. This follows a 6.7 percent dividend hike by the health benefits company last year and marks the 9th consecutive year of annual dividend increases.

The first quarter dividend is payable on March 27, 2020 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2020. A new annualized dividend rate of $3.80 per share yields 1.4% at a stock price of $273.

Anthem, Inc. is a health benefits company. The company offers managed care plans to large and small employer, individual, Medicaid and Medicare markets. Anthem has three reportable segments: Commercial & Specialty Business (comprised of the Local Group, National Accounts, Individual and Specialty businesses); Government Business (comprised of the Medicaid and Medicare businesses, National Government Services, and the Federal Employee Program); and Other (comprised of certain eliminations and corporate expenses not allocated to either of our other reportable segments). The company was formed when WellPoint Health Networks Inc. and Anthem, Inc. merged in 2004.