Applied Materials (AMAT) will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.8 percent to $0.22 per share in 2020. Last year the semiconductor company hiked its quarterly dividend by 5.0 percent.

The next dividend is payable on June 11, 2020 to shareholders of record as of May 21, 2020. A new annual rate of 88 cents per share yields 1.8% at a stock price of $48.96.

In today's press release the company comments on the dividend hike: “We are increasing the dividend based on our strong cash flow performance and ongoing commitment to return capital to shareholders,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO. “We believe the AI-Big Data era will create exciting long-term growth opportunities for Applied Materials.”

Applied Materials, Inc. is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. The company provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the global semiconductor, display and related industries. Applied Materials has three operating segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services and Display and Adjacent Markets. The company's customers include manufacturers of semiconductor chips, liquid crystal and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, and other electronic devices. Applied Materials was incorporated in 1967 and has paid a dividend every year since 2005.