Sherwin-Williams (SHW) will raise its quarterly dividend by 18.6 percent to $1.34 per share in 2020. This follows a 31.4 percent dividend hike by the company last year, marking 41 years of consecutive dividend increases. This new increase will mark 42 consecutive years of dividend hikes in the year 2020 by Dividend Aristocrat Sherwin-Williams.

The next quarterly dividend of $1.34 per share is payable on March 13, 2020, to shareholders of record on March 2, 2020. A new annual dividend rate of $5.36 per share yields 0.9% at a stock price of $567. Because of the double digit dividend hike announced in 2020, combined with a track record of at least 25 consecutive years of higher dividends paid, Sherwin-Williams also is a 2020 dividend hike star.

The company will now pay an estimated $487 million in dividends to its shareholders every year, up from $410 million before the 2020 dividend hike. In 2019 the stock price of Sherwin-Williams gained 48.3 percent, following a 4.0 percent loss in 2018. The average annual dividend growth rate since 2015 is now 14.9 percent for the Dividend Aristocrat.

Sherwin-Williams has hiked its dividend by double digits six times in the last ten years. Last year's 31.4 percent dividend increase was the largest in the last decade and follows big raises in 2016 (+25.4 percent), 2015 (+21.8 percent), 2013 (+28.2 percent) and 2007 (+26.0 percent). The smallest dividend hikes were announced in both 2018 and 2017 when Sherwin-Williams raised the annual dividend by 1.2 percent, following the acquisition of fellow Aristocrat Valspar.

The Sherwin-Williams Company is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and sale of coatings and related products. The company manufactures products under brands such as SherwinWilliams, Valspar, Dutch Boy, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Krylon, Minwax, Cabot, Thompson’s and Water Seal. SHW sells its products through its company-operated stores and facilities and mass merchandisers, home centers, independent paint dealers, hardware stores, automotive retailers and industrial distributors. The company's segments are The Americas Group, The Consumer Brands Group and The Performance Coatings Group. The Sherwin-Williams Company was founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in 1866 and has annually increased dividends since 1979. In 2017 the company completed the acquisition of The Valspar Corporation, a Dividend Aristocrat with a strong dividend history with 39 consecutive years of increases in 2016.