Donaldson Increases Dividend 30%

Donaldson Company Inc. announces that its Board of Directors declared a regular cash dividend of $0.13 per share, payable June 21 to shareholders of record as of June 7, an increase of 30% from the prior payout of $0.10 per share. The company increased its dividend policy to pay out 30 to 40% of the prior three years' average EPS.

"We first established our dividend payout policy using financial metrics in the 1980s to make our dividend payout increases more consistent. This has resulted in 27 consecutive years of dividend increases," says Bill Cook, Donaldson's CEO. "As we have continued to grow, our ability to consistently pay a higher percentage of earnings has likewise increased. Based on our regular review of our Strategic Growth Plan and our dividend and share repurchase policies, we decided to increase our dividend payout. Our updated dividend payout policy, combined with our longstanding practice of repurchasing an average of 2% of our outstanding shares each year, firmly demonstrates our commitment of returning a high percentage of our earnings to our Shareholders while continuing to grow our Company's sales and earnings."

The current declaration is the 231st consecutive quarterly cash dividend paid by Donaldson over a time span of 57 years.