( By Dividends4Life) General Mills (GIS) has one of the longest dividend histories in corporate America. The company and its predecessor firm have paid shareholder dividends, without interruption or reduction, for 113 years. With the latest dividend boost announced Tuesday, the company extended its streak of consecutive increases to nine years.
June 26th the company increased its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.33 per share. The dividend is payable Aug. 1, 2012, to shareholders of record July 10, 2012. The yield based on the new payout is 3.5%.
"We view dividends and dividend growth as a key component of value creation for shareholders," said General Mills Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Powell.
Over the past five years, which was a challenging period for the capital markets overall, General Mills' dividends per share increased at an 11 percent compound annual rate. The company's dividend yield has averaged roughly 3 percent over this same period.
GIS manufactures and markets branded packaged consumer food products worldwide, including Big G cereals and Betty Crocker desserts/baking mixes. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries.
Full Disclosure: No position in the aforementioned securities. See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.