Procter & Gamble (PG) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5 percent, marking 66 straight years of dividend increases by the well known Dividend Aristocrat. Last year PG hiked its dividend by 10.0 percent to 86.98 cents per share, following a 6.0 percent increase to $0.7907 per share announced in 2020. Last year also was the first double digit dividend hike announced by the Dividend Aristocrat since 2009. 

The next dividend will be payable on or after May 16, 2022, to Common Stock shareholders of record at the close of business on April 22, 2022. A new annual rate of approximately $3.65 per share yields 2.3% at a stock price of $159.

In its press release PG mentions that this dividend increase will mark the 66th consecutive year that P&G has increased its dividend and the 132nd consecutive year that P&G has paid a dividend since its incorporation in 1890. It reinforces the company's commitment to return cash to shareholders, many of whom rely on the steady, reliable income earned with their investment in P&G.

Procter & Gamble has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8 percent, up from 5.4 percent, in the last five years. The company now pays approximately $8.84 billion in dividends annually and is one of the biggest dividend payers worldwide.

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods to consumers worldwide. The company has five reportable segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. Procter's brands include Gilette, Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Rejoice, Mach3, Prestobarba, Venus, Cascade, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean, Bounty and Charmin. P&G has paid a dividend every year since its incorporation in 1890. The company was incorporated in Ohio in 1905, having been built from a business founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble.