Black Hills Corp. (BKH) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5.6 percent to $0.565 per share in 2020. This follows a 5.9 percent dividend hike to $0.535 per share in 2019. The company has increased its dividend for 50 consecutive years.

The next dividend will be paid on December 1, 2020 to shareholders of record on November 17, 2020. A new annual rate of $2.26 per share yields 2.7% at a stock price of $78.63.

In a press release dated October 27 the company comments on this new dividend hike: “Today’s declaration marks a significant milestone with the completion of our 50th consecutive annual dividend increase, one of the longest records in the electric and gas utility sector,” said Linn Evans, president and CEO of Black Hills Corp. “Our track record of dividend increases affirms our long-term strategy of sharing our growing earnings with shareholders while maintaining the capital to sustainably grow long-term customer and shareholder value.”

Black Hills Corporation is a vertically integrated utility company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. The company serves natural gas and electric utility customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company also generates wholesale electricity and produces natural gas, oil and coal. Its predecessor company, Black Hills Power and Light Company, was incorporated and began providing electric utility service in 1941. Black Hills Power & Light Company has been paying a dividend to shareholders every year since 1942.