Stanley Black & Decker Dividend Offers 1.9% Yield

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) disclosed that its Board has approved a $0.03 increase of its quarterly cash dividend to $0.58 per common share. According to the company, this marked the 49th straight annual dividend increase for the company. The dividend offered 1.9 percent yield, which was lower than the average 2.2 percent yield in the five-year period.Stanley Black & Decker said that the dividend would be paid on September 20 to its shareholders of record as of September 2.Its Chairman and CEO, John Lundgren, said, "It makes me extremely proud to think that over the past decade we have been able to double the quarterly cash dividend per share. We have always viewed our dividend as a cornerstone to our shareholder value proposition, and today's increase reflects our confidence in the continued cash generation potential of the company."For 48 years, the company has been increasing its dividend. As a result, its dividend growth rate was 8.13 percent in the last five year period while it was 3.94 percent in the three-year period. Its dividend payout ratio was about 36.0 percent, which was lower than the 43.0 percent payout ratio for the five-year period.On Thursday, the stock slipped 1.96 percent on Thursday.