Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is at it again. The consumer products and health care products giant has raised its common stock dividend. What investors need to know here is that J&J’s traditional of dividend hikes is now on a streak that has lasted for more than 50 consecutive years.

J&J’s board of directors increased the payout by 7.1%, from $0.70 per share to $0.75 per share. This will generate an annualized dividend payout hike to $3.00 per share from $2.80 per share.

What 24/7 Wall St. always does is compare the dividend, and the dividend growth, to past earnings and forward expectations. This creates a “dividend affordability” metric of sorts. The new $3.00 annualized per share payout would be just over half of the $5.97 in earnings per share of 2014.

Going forward, the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings estimates are $6.14 per share for 2015 and $6.42 per share for 2016. The new payout is roughly 48% of a blended 2015 and 2016 earnings per share metric.

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The $3.00 per share, based on roughly 2.78 billion shares by Google’s count, would also generate a payout of roughly $8.3 billion in dividend payouts on a static annualized basis. J&J’s operating income was $20.9 billion in 2014, while cash flow from operating activities was $18.47 billion in 2014.

24/7 Wall St. ran a 2015 bullish and bearish review of J&J earlier this year. At that time, the shares were trading at $104.57 after a total return of 17% or so (including the dividend) in 2014. At that time, the consensus analyst price target was $108.85 and the dividend yield of 2.6% would have gone on top of that then. Also at that time, the highest analyst price target was $123 and the lowest analyst price target was $96.

J&J closed up three cents on Thursday at $100.46, with a 52-week range of $95.10 to $109.49. It has a consensus analyst price target of $109.25, and the high and low targets have stayed flat — high target of $123 and a low target of $96.

The next quarterly dividend is payable on June 9, 2015, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 26, 2015. The ex-dividend date is May 21, 2015. J&J said about the hike:

In recognition of our 2014 results, strong financial position and confidence in the future of Johnson & Johnson, the Board has voted to increase the quarterly dividend for the 53rd consecutive year.

When J&J released its earnings earlier in April, currency was a headwind, as it has been for other big internationally focused U.S. companies. First-quarter revenue was down 4.1% to $17.4 billion for the first quarter of 2015, but J&J said that operational results increased 3.1% and the negative impact of currency was 7.2%.

J&J further showed that its adjusted earnings guidance for full-year 2015 was adjusted to $6.04 to $6.19 per share, which further reflected negative foreign currency movements.

J&J said that its international sales were down by 9.7%, reflecting an operational increase of 3.1% and a negative currency impact of 12.8%.

Excluding the net impact of acquisitions and divestitures, on an operational basis, worldwide sales increased 4.7%, domestic sales increased 5.1% and international sales increased 4.5%

Along with earnings and currency comments, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said:

The company delivered strong underlying growth in the first quarter driven by new products and the strength of the core business.  Of note is the continued robust growth of the Pharmaceutical business and the solid performance of our Consumer brands.

I am proud of our global teams who focus every day on delivering innovative solutions to address evolving health care needs.

If J&J keeps up this pace, its investors can expect dividend hikes far beyond the 53rd consecutive year.

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A dividend history chart back to 1997 from J&J’s investor relations site has been provided below.

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