General Dynamics (GD) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5.9 percent to $1.26 per share in 2022. This follows a dividend hike of 8.2 percent to $1.19 per share in 2021 and marks 25 consecutive years of straight annual dividend increases by GD. This puts the company on the short list of becoming a dividend aristocrat (so included in the S&P500 Dividend Aristocrats Index).

The next GD dividend will be payable May 6, 2022, to shareholders of record on April 8, 2022. This is the 25th consecutive annual dividend increase authorized by the General Dynamics board, and represents a 5.9% increase over last year's dividend. A new annual dividend rate of $5.04 per share yields 2.1% at a current stock price of $245. GD will now pay shareholders an estimated $1.4 billion in dividends annually.

General Dynamics Corporation is a global aerospace and defense company. The company offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; IT services; C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) solutions; and shipbuilding and ship repair.  The Aerospace segment consists of Gulfstream and Jet Aviation business units. General Dynamics, incorporated in Delaware in 1952, is headquartered in Falls Church, Va.