Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI) will boost its dividend by 20 percent to 12 cents per share quarterly. Last year ACI started paying a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share and this is the first dividend hike.

The next quarterly ACI dividend of $0.12 per share of common stock will be paid on November 12, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on October 29, 2021. The new dividend yield for ACI is 1.7%.

“The ongoing strength of our performance and free cash flow generation give us the confidence to increase our quarterly dividend, even as we ramp up investments in our business and support our digital transformation,” said Vivek Sankaran, CEO. “We remain committed to a balanced approach to capital allocation, which includes investments to drive future growth, continued deleveraging of the balance sheet, and returning cash to shareholders.”

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. Albertsons Companies operates stores across 34 states and the District of Columbia with more than 20 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw's, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Haggen, Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market. Albertsons Companies became a public company on June 26, 2020.