Costco, P&G, J&J among few to hike dividend during coronavirus crisis

(Reuters) – Warehouse operator Costco Wholesale Corp on Wednesday raised its quarterly dividend by about 8%, joining a small but growing list of companies to do so at a time when most of corporate America is suspending shareholders returns in order to shore up liquidity as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

Healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble also raised their quarterly dividends by about 6% each on Tuesday.

Demand for consumer and healthcare products, groceries and other essential items has risen dramatically as people stockpile to tide over the lockdowns imposed to curb the COVID-19 padnemic, caused by the new coronavirus.

Here are some more companies that have announced higher dividends this month:

Company Name RIC New Old % Date of Market Cap Link

Dividend Dividend increase change (in billions)

Johnson & Johnson $1.01 $0.95 6.32% April 14 $389.28

Procter & Gamble Co $0.7907 $0.7459 6.01% April 14 $299.35

Costco Wholesale Corp $0.70 $0.65 7.69% April 15 $138.70

First Republic Bank $0.20 $0.19 5.26% April 14 $16.19

Bank Ozk $0.27 $0.26 3.85% April 01 $2.32

H.B. Fuller Co

Lindsay Corp $0.32 $0.31 3.23% April 06 $0.99

* Market cap according to Refinitiv Eikon data as of trading close on April 15

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)