United-Guardian, Inc. (NASDAQ:UG) shares are trading higher on Friday.

The company declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share, to be paid on February 20, 2024, to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 12, 2024.

This dividend represents a significant increase over the company's $0.10 per share dividend in 2023.

This will be the 29th consecutive year the company has paid dividends.

In the press release, the company disclosed hiring additional personnel to implement some of its expanded marketing activities effectively.

"Even with this increase in the dividend we will still be retaining a higher percentage of the company's earnings than we have in many previous years, which will ensure that we have sufficient capital to support our growth targets as we move into 2024," said Donna Vigilante, President of United-Guardian.

Shares of United-Guardian rose around 7% in the last six months, underperforming the broader S&P 500's growth of over 9%.

While reporting third-quarter results, the company said it is re-evaluating its current marketing strategy and plans to implement changes in the first quarter of 2024.

"We anticipate that these changes will enable us to increase sales in all our product categories, especially sales of our cosmetic ingredients in the regions that are underperforming," Vigilante said in November last year.

Price Action: UG shares are trading higher by 5.28% to $8.26 on the last check Friday.