Staples Raises Dividend 9%

Office supply retailer Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS  ) is raising its quarterly dividend from $0.11 per share to $0.12, a 9% increase, which is payable on April 18 to shareholders of record on March 29.�On an annualized basis, the quarterly dividend is equal to $0.48 per share compared to $0.44 per share that Staples paid in 2012.�

Staples began paying an annual dividend in 2004, when it authorized a $0.20-per-share payment ($0.133 post-split). Beginning with the first quarter of 2009, it transitioned to a quarterly dividend payment schedule, which at the time was $0.0825 per share, or on an annualized basis, $0.33 per share. Staples has increased its dividend payout every year since 2009. (The chart below does not include the most recent increase.)

SPLS Dividend data by YCharts.�

Staples is the world's largest office products company and the world's second-largest Internet retailer.

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