Tool company extends longest streak in retail

Plenty of retailers pay dividends, but none comes close to matching the track record of Stanley Black & Decker.



The company declared a 52 cent a share dividend for its fourth quarter and in so doing set a mark no retailer is likely to ever attain.



The dividend payment extends Stanley Black & Decker’s record for the longest consecutive annual and quarterly dividend payment among industrial companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company has paid a dividend for 479 consecutive quarters which is the equivalent of 138 consecutive years. Few retailers have even been around that long let along paid a dividend.



In addition, Stanley Black & Decker has increased its dividend every year since 1968.