Ingredion Incorporated (INGR) will raise its quarterly dividend by 1.6 percent to 64 cents per share in 2020.

This follows a dividend hike of 0.8 percent to $0.63 per share announced by the ingredient solutions provider in 2019. This also marks the 10th consecutive year of annual dividend increases by Ingredion based on calendar years.

The next dividend is payable on October 26, 2020, to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 1, 2020.

A new annualized rate of $2.56 per share yields 3.1% at a stock price of $81.30. This year the stock price of Ingredion has lost approximately 12 percent.

In the press release dated September 16, 2020, Ingredion announces the dividend hike and mentions that this is the sixth consecutive year that Ingredion’s board has approved a quarterly dividend increase in the third quarter. The company did not announce a dividend increase in 2014, following big hikes of 61.5 percent (2013), 30.0 percent (2012) and 42.9 percent (2011) in the previous three years. Based on calendar years the annual dividend payment has been raised ten consecutive years.

Ingredion will now pay an estimated $171 million in dividends to its shareholders annually. This compares to a current market cap of $5.5 billion. The average annual dividend growth in the last five years is 7.3 percent for Ingredion, thanks to double digit increases in both 2016 and 2017.

Ingredion Incorporated is a global ingredient solutions provider. The company is principally engaged in the production and sale of starches and sweeteners for a wide range of industries. Ingredion turns corn, tapioca, potatoes, grains, fruits, and vegetables into value-added ingredients and biomaterials for the food, beverage, paper and corrugating, brewing and other industries. The company's four reportable business segments are: North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Ingredion was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 1997 and has paid a dividend every year since 1998.