Herman Miller (MLHR) will reinstate its quarterly dividend with a payment of 18.75 cents in January next year. The furnishings company suspended its quarterly dividend in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 Herman Miller hiked its quarterly dividend by 6.3 percent to $0.21 per share. The furniture company had been paying dividends since at least 1972 before the suspension in the previous quarter.

The company's Board of Directors approved a $0.1875 per share dividend that will be paid on January 15, 2021 to shareholders of record as of November 28, 2020. A new annual dividend rate of 75 cents per share will yield 2.3% at a stock price of $32.08.

In the company's press release dated September 16, 2020 the company reports first quarter fiscal 2021 results and announces the reinstatement of the quarterly dividend. Herman Miller states that based on the company's confidence in the strategic direction of the business, strong liquidity position and operating performance this quarter, Herman Miller is re-establishing a quarterly cash dividend program. 

Herman Miller had been announcing a dividend hike in each of the previous eight years, with double digit increases in four of those years. The company will now pay an estimated $44 million in dividends annually to its shareholders. Last month Herman Miller peer La-Z-Boy also announced the reinstatement of its dividend.

Herman Miller, Inc. is a provider of furnishings and related technologies and services. The company researches, designs, manufactures, and distributes interior furnishings for use in various environments including office, healthcare, educational, and residential settings and provides related services for organizations and individuals worldwide. The company's brands include Colebrook Bosson Saunders, Design Within Reach, Geiger, HAY, Maars Living Walls, Maharam, naughtone, Nemschoff, and Herman Miller. The company was incepted in 1905, went public in 1970 and has paid a dividend since at least 1972.