STERIS plc (STE) will raise its quarterly dividend by 8.1 percent to 40 cents per share quarterly in 2020. This will mark the 15th consecutive year of dividend increases by the Ireland (Europe) based medical equipment company. Last year STERIS hiked its dividend by 8.8 percent to $0.37 per share.

The next dividend is payable September 24, 2020 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 27, 2020. The new annual dividend of $1.60 per share yields 1.0% at a stock price of $157.75.

Including this last 8.1 percent dividend hike STERIS has now hiked its dividend by an average of 9.9 percent annually in the last five years. The company currently pays an estimated $136 million in dividends to shareholders. Dividend growth has been slowing a bit in the last couple of years with the last double digit dividend hike announced in 2017 by STERIS, with a 10.7 percent increase at the time. The best years in terms of dividend growth were between 2008 and 2010 with three consecutive years with a dividend hike of at least 30 percent.

STERIS plc provides infection prevention and other procedural products and services. The company is focused primarily on healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device customers. STERIS operates through four reportable business segments: Healthcare Products, Healthcare Specialty Services, Life Sciences, and Applied Sterilization Technologies. The company offers capital equipment products, such as sterilizers and washers, surgical tables, lights and equipment management systems and connectivity solutions such as operating room integration; consumable products such as detergents and gastrointestinal endoscopy accessories and other products; services, including equipment installation and maintenance, microbial reduction of medical devices, instrument and scope repair solutions, laboratory services and off-site reprocessing. STERIS had been paying a dividend to shareholders every year since 2005.