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The board of directors of Medtronic today approved a 9 percent increase in its quarterly cash dividend, raising the quarterly amount to $0.50 per ordinary share. This would translate into an annual amount of $2.00 per ordinary share, or a dividend per share payout ratio of 42 percent of prior fiscal year non-GAAP diluted earnings per share. Today's announcement marks the 41st consecutive year of an increase in the dividend payment for Medtronic, a constituent of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. Including today's increase, Medtronic's dividend per share has grown by 300 percent since fiscal year 2008 and has grown at a 17 percent compounded annual growth rate over the past 41 years.

The Oil-Dri Corporation of Americathe Board of Directors declared quarterly cash dividends of $0.24 per share of the Company's Common Stock and $0.18 per share of the Company's Class B Stock, an approximate 4% increase for both classes of stock. The dividends declared today will be payable on August 31, 2018 to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 17, 2018. The Company has paid cash dividends continuously since 1974. This declaration marks the fifteenth consecutive year Oil-Dri has increased dividends.

The DTE Energy Board of Directors today declared a $0.8825 per share dividend on its common stock payable Oct. 15, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business Sept. 17, 2018. This continues DTE Energy's consistent dividend history, having issued a cash dividend for more than 100 years.

Masco announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $.105 per common share, payable on August 13, 2018, to shareholders of record on July 13, 2018.

UDR, a leading multifamily real estate investment trust, today announced that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly dividend on its common stock for the second quarter of 2018 in the amount of $0.3225 per share, payable in cash, on July 31, 2018 to UDR common stock shareholders of record as of July 10, 2018. The July 31st dividend will be the 183rd consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the Company on its common stock.

For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.