Cognex Corp (CGNX) will pay a special cash dividend of $2.00 per share. Earlier this year the companyd already increased its regular quarterly dividend by 9.1 percent to 6 cents per share in 2020. Cognex has raised its dividend five consecutive years.

In its press release dated December 3, 2020, the company calls this extra dividend of 2 dollars a “very special” cash dividend. The dividend is payable on December 28, 2020 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on December 14, 2020. The aggregate payment will be approximately $350 million and funded using existing cash balances.

“Cognex has paid a quarterly cash dividend for every quarter starting in 2003. Since that time, our cash and investments balance has grown to over $1 billion, despite years of funding business growth, share repurchases, and dividend increases. At Cognex we have a motto, “When Cognex wins, we all win,” and in keeping with that motto, we are making this very special dividend payment to share our success with our shareholders and reward them for their loyalty to Cognex prior to any potential federal tax increases under a new administration,” said Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Founder and Chairman of Cognex.

“We are proud that we are in a position to pay a meaningful dividend to our shareholders, especially during this challenging business environment,” said Robert J. Willett, Chief Executive Officer of Cognex. “Cognex has a strong balance sheet and no debt. We are confident in our company’s long-term growth prospects. And we expect to continue to generate cash sufficient to continue to grow our business and to make opportunistic acquisitions.”

A regular annual dividend rate of 24 cents per share yields 0.3% at a stock price of $76.45. Cognex pays its shareholders an estimated $42 million in dividends annually. In the last five years the dividend was raised by at least double digits three times.

Cognex Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of image-based products, all of which use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that give them the human-like ability to make decisions on what they see. Cognex products include barcode readers, machine vision sensors and machine vision systems that are used in factories, warehouses and distribution centers around the world to guide, gauge, inspect, identify and assure the quality of items during the manufacturing and distribution process. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Natick, Massachusetts, USA.