Applied Materials raises dividend: ‘$AMAT can continue to outperform’

Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT) is slightly down in premarket on Monday even though it just raised its quarterly dividend to 40 cents per share.

Applies Materials lifts dividend up by 25%

The new cash dividend represents a 25% increase on a year-over-year basis. Brice Hill – the chief of finance at $AMAT said in a press release today:

Our latest dividend increase reflects our confidence in Applied Materials’ ability to generate profitable growth and strong free cash flow.

The news arrives about a month after Applied Materials reported its financial results for the first quarter that handily topped Street estimates as Invezz reported here.

Shares of the manufacturing giant are up more than 35% versus their year-to-date low in early January.

$AMAT has a history of raising dividend

Note that Applied Materials Inc have now raised dividend for seven years straight and SVP Hill expects the California-based company to generate sufficient operating profit to “support growing dividend” moving forward.

He’s also confident that $AMAT will see “double-digit growth” in its services business and will “continue to outperform the semiconductor equipment market” in the coming years.

The Nasdaq-listed firm has increased its quarterly dividend at a compound annualised rate of 15% over the past ten years, as per its press release this morning.

Dividend the manufacturing giant announced today is payable on June 13^th to those invested in $AMAT as of May 23^rd. Wall Street currently has a consensus “overweight” rating on Applied Materials stock.