United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) will raise its quarterly dividend by 1.0 percent to $1.02 per share in 2021. This follows a dividend hike of 5.2 percent to $1.01 per share in the first quarter of 2020 and marks the 12th consecutive year of dividend increases by the package delivery company.

The increased dividend payable March 10, 2021 to shareowners of record on February 22, 2021. The new annual dividend rate of $4.08 per share yields 2.5% at a stock price of $163.39.

In the press release announcing this new dividend hike UPS states that commitment to the dividend is one of UPS’s core principles and a hallmark of the company’s financial strength. UPS has either maintained or increased its dividend each year since going public in 1999.

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is a package delivery company. The company offers a spectrum of the United States domestic guaranteed ground and air package transportation services. The International Package segment includes the small package operations in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and Africa. UPS was founded in 1907 as a messenger company in the United States. The company had its IPO in 1999 and has paid a dividend every year since 1969.