Lowe's has raised its dividend every year since going public in 1961. See LOW's dividend history, safety outlook, honest risks, and how to earn its payout.
About $221/year at the current 2.2% yield, before any future raises or reinvestment.
Lowe's has paid a dividend every quarter since it went public in 1961 — and raised it every year for more than six decades since, earning a spot on the dividend kings list. Along the way it has pulled off one of the great shrinking acts in market history: buybacks have retired well over half the company's shares since the mid-2000s, turbocharging every remaining shareholder's slice of the dividend pie.
| Public since | 1961, with a dividend every quarter since |
| Consecutive annual raises | More than 60 years |
| Status | Dividend King and Dividend Aristocrat |
| Payment months | February, May, August, November |
| Recent raise pace | Healthy — roughly 5% per year, announced around May–June |
| Payout ratio | Low — roughly 35% of earnings |
Current yield, annual dividend, and the exact streak length are shown live in the stats bar above.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1946 | Lowe's opens as a small-town hardware store in North Wilkesboro, NC |
| 1961 | IPO — the quarterly dividend begins immediately |
| 1960s | Start of the unbroken streak of annual increases |
| 2008–2010 | Raises the dividend straight through the housing crash |
| 2018 | Marvin Ellison arrives; margins and buybacks accelerate |
| Today | Share count roughly a third of its mid-2000s peak |
America's housing stock keeps getting older, and old houses leak, creak, and demand repair. Roughly half of Lowe's sales are the non-discretionary kind — a broken water heater doesn't wait for a better economy — which cushions the business through downturns.
Home improvement is effectively a two-horse race between Lowe's and Home Depot. Neither needs to start a price war, both earn strong returns, and the scale required to challenge them makes a third national entrant close to impossible.
Lowe's has bought back stock so aggressively that its share count has fallen from well over a billion shares in the mid-2000s to a fraction of that today. Every retired share makes the next dividend raise cheaper to fund — a quiet flywheel behind six decades of increases.
The realistic downside: a stretch of small raises during a housing slump. With a payout ratio near 35%, an outright cut would take a catastrophe the 2008 crash couldn't produce.
The income callout above shows what a $10,000 position generates at today's yield. The real appeal is what happens next:
Lowe's is a growth-tilted foundation holding: modest starting yield, unusually well-protected payout, cyclical share price.
Every major broker offers LOW with fractional shares and free reinvestment — compare platforms, or meet its retail peers on the full dividend aristocrats list.
Yes. Lowe's has increased its dividend every year for more than six decades — a streak running back to shortly after its 1961 IPO — putting it comfortably above the 50-year bar for Dividend King status. It is also a Dividend Aristocrat.
Lowe's pays dividends quarterly, typically in February, May, August, and November. The annual increase is usually announced in late May or early June.
Very. Lowe's pays out only around 35% of its earnings as dividends — one of the lowest payout ratios of any Dividend King — leaving a huge cushion even in a housing downturn. The bigger swing factor for the stock is the housing cycle, not the dividend.
Every top broker we review offers LOW with $0 commissions, fractional shares, and free dividend reinvestment.