Woodward (WWD) will this time double its quarterly dividend to 16.25 cents per share in 2021. Last year the aerospace components maker cut its quarterly dividend by 71.0 percent to $0.08125 per share. Earlier in 2020 Woodward had hiked its quarterly dividend by 72.3 percent, marking 6 consecutive years of double digit dividend increases at the time before the dividend cut later that year. 

The next dividend is payable on March 8, 2021, for stockholders of record as of Feb. 22, 2021. A new annualized dividend rate of approximately 65 cents per share yields 0.6% at a stock price of $115.

In its press release announcing this dividend Woodward states: “The significant increase in our dividend reflects the successful execution of the decisive actions we took in response to the unprecedented economic uncertainty related to the COVID-19 global pandemic and our increasing confidence in the position of our business as well as the strength of our balance sheet. Now that global markets are beginning to stabilize, we are moving toward our pre-COVID-19 capital deployment strategy to continue generating value for our shareholders and emerge as a stronger, more agile Woodward,” said Thomas A. Gendron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Woodward.

Woodward is a designer, manufacturer, and service provider of control system solutions and components for the aerospace and industrial markets. Its fluid, combustion, electrical, and motion control systems help customers offer cleaner, more reliable, and more efficient equipment. Woodward's customers include original equipment manufacturers and end users of their products. The company has production and assembly facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia. Woodward was established in 1870, incorporated in 1902, and is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado. The company has paid quarterly dividends every year since it became publicly traded in 1940. In 2020 Woodward merged with Hexcel Corporation.