Dover Dividends

Dividend Aristocrat Overview: Dover

Among the company's many product lines, retail fueling products are
manufactured by Dover's Fluids Segment.
Photo: Flickr.com/Mike Mozart

About Dover Corporation

Dover Corporation is a diversified global manufacturer that serves multiple industries. Headquartered in Downer’s Grove, Illinois, Dover has 28 major brands across four business segments:

  • This segment supports the oil and gas drilling markets by providing hardware and support services to the energy and infrastructure markets.
  • Engineered Systems: This segment provides about a third of company revenues. The Engineered Systems Segment serves the printing and identification, vehicle service, aerospace and waste-equipment end markets.  Products include printer and labeling solutions for industrial and RFID applications; digital ink jet printing systems for the textile market; electrical components and subsystems for the defense, aerospace and telecommunications markets; bench tools for 3D and electronics product assembly; vehicle lifting and collision repair equipment; and off-road equipment and accessories for 4 wheel drive, ATVs and utility vehicles.
  • Fluids: The Fluids Segment provides about a sixth of Dover’s total revenues. This segment specializes in the safe handling of critical fluids in the oil and gas, retail fueling, chemical, hygienic and industrial end markets.
  • Refrigeration and Food Services: The Refrigeration and Food Services Segment generates about a quarter of Dover’s total revenues. Products and services provided by this segment include commercial glass refrigerator and freezer doors for supermarket displays, and cooking and food preparation equipment for the food service industry.  The segment’s sales are split about 3-to-1 between refrigeration and food services.

The company is a member of the S&P 500 index and trades under the ticker symbol DOV.

Dover’s Dividend Growth and Stock Split History

Dover has one of the longest records of dividend increases among all the Dividend Aristocrats.  The company first began increasing dividends in 1956 and met the Dividend Aristocrat criteria of 25 consecutive years of increasing regular dividend payments in 1980.  Historically, Dover announces dividend increases and goes ex-dividend in August.

Dover has compounded its payout at an average rate of 7.8% over the last 5 years and 9.3% over the last 10 years.

Although Dover has gone nearly 20 years since splitting its stock, the company has split its stock two-for-one 8 times between 1965 and 1997.  After splits in December 1997, August 1995, September 1988, August 1981, October 1979, September 1976, November 1968, and November 1965, you would now have 256 shares of Dover stock for each share purchased in early 1965.

Dover’s Direct Purchase and Dividend Reinvestment Plans

Dover has both direct purchase and dividend reinvestment plans. Investors interested in participating in either of these plans can find information at ComputerShare Investment Plan site. The dividend reinvestment plan allows you to reinvest dividends in full or in part; you can also choose to have the dividends directly deposited into your checking account.

As with all direct purchase and dividend reinvestment plans administered by ComputerShare, there is a $10 initial fee to setup an account. If you’re interested in directly purchasing Dover stock, the minimum purchase is $500 for the initial investment.  You can make this in a single purchase or through 10 automatic purchases of at least $50. Additional direct purchases have a minimum of $50.

Dover pays some of the fees and costs associated with investing in the plans. When buying shares through the direct purchase plan, Dover pays the transaction fee and you pay a brokerage fee of 12 cents per share. For dividend reinvestments, you’ll pay a transaction fee of 5% of the amount reinvested up to $3.00, plus a brokerage fee of 12 cents per share.

When you sell your shares in the plan, you’ll pay 12 cents per share sold plus a transaction fee of between $10 and $25, depending on the type of sell order. You’ll also pay $5 to have the sale proceeds directly deposited to your account.

Helpful Links

Dover’s Investor Relations Website

Current quote and financial summary for Dover (finviz.com)

Information on the direct purchase and dividend reinvestment plans for DOV