The board of Pentair Ltd. (PNR) recently raised its annual dividend for 2015 by 16% to $1.28 per share from $1.10 in 2014. This marks the 39th consecutive hike in the company’s dividend.

Payment of the dividend will be made in four equal quarterly installments of 32 cents per share, which is 2 cents per share more than the dividend paid in third-quarter 2014, in each of the third and fourth quarters of 2014 and the first and second quarters of 2015. The new dividend is payable on Feb 13, 2015, to shareholders of record as of Jan 30, 2015.

In addition to dividend hike, Pentair’s board has sanctioned the repurchase of shares worth up to $1 billion, effective immediately. The buyback program expires on Dec 31, 2019. Pentair intends to repurchase outstanding shares from time to time in the open market by utilizing its cash flow.

Shares of Pentair rose as much as around 2% in the trading session and eventually closed at $61.36 a day after the announcement.

In the third quarter of 2014, Pentair returned over $450 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. The company paid $156.2 million in dividends in the first nine months of 2014, compared with $143.9 million in the prior-year comparable period.

During the first three quarters of 2014, Pentair repurchased 11.8 million of its shares for $850 million. As of the third-quarter end, the company has $300 million remaining under its $1 billion share repurchase program, authorized in Dec 2013, which it expects to complete in the fourth quarter.

For 2014, Pentair’s revenue guidance stands at $7.1 billion (an annual increase of around 1% to 2%), while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) guidance lies in the range of $3.72–$3.74. Additionally, Pentair expects fourth-quarter 2014 EPS to be in the range of $1.02 to $1.04, up around 20% from the prior-year quarter. Fourth-quarter revenues will be roughly $1.86 billion, up 1% to 2% year over year.

Pentair will benefit from improvement in the North American residential market as well as global food and beverage market, stabilization across Europe, cost synergies from last year’s merger with Tyco Flow and consistent share repurchases.

Through 2013 and the first three quarters of 2014, Pentair witnessed material and other cost inflation. The company anticipates that the current economic environment will cause continued volatility in the price of several raw materials. Even though commodity prices have begun to moderate, the timing and impact of these market changes are uncertain.

Pentair delivers industry-leading products, services and solutions to meet diverse needs of customers related to water and other fluids, thermal management and equipment protection.

Pentair currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the industrial products sector include Zebra Technologies Corp. (ZBRA), John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT) and ARC Document Solutions, Inc. (ARC). While Zebra Technologies holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), John Bean Technologies and ARC Document Solutions carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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