The Cobb County-headquartered home improvement retail giant The Home Depot announced in a press release on May 18 the 141st consecutive quarter it has issued shareholders a dividend.

The first-quarter cash dividend of $1.90 per share is payable on June 16, 2022, to shareholders of record on the close of business on June 2, 2022.

First-quarter performance

The company reported $38.9 billion in sales for the first quarter of their 2022 fiscal year.

In a press release the company stated that represents an increase of $1.4 billion, or 3.8 percent, over the first quarter of 2021.

Comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 increased 2.2 percent, and comparable sales in the U.S. increased 1.7 percent.

Comparable sales, also known as “same store sales,” is a metric used in retailing that compares sales in stores that have been opened for a period long enough to compare, often 13 months, to the same period in a previous year. It is used to adjust for seasonal sales differences, and gives investors another means of knowing whether a company’s sales are increasing or decreasing.

The company’s first quarter net earnings were $4.2 billion, or $4.09 per diluted share. This represented an increase of 6 percent per diluted share from the same period last year.

“Fiscal 2022 is off to a strong start as we delivered the highest first quarter sales in Company history,” said Ted Decker, CEO and president. “The solid performance in the quarter is even more impressive as we were comparing against last year’s historic growth and faced a slower start to spring this year. These results are a direct reflection of our associates’ continued ability to effectively navigate a challenging and dynamic environment. I would like to thank them and our many partners for their hard work and dedication to our customers.”

About The Home Depot

The Home Depot was founded in 1978 after co-founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were fired from the Handy Andy home improvement chain in southern California.

The firing did not affect their career prospects adversely, as their fortunes demonstrated shortly thereafter.

They decided to go into business together, and opened three stores in Atlanta. From those three stores they grew into a giant in the home improvement retail industry.

According to company promotional materials:

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer. The Company operates a total of 2,298 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2020, The Home Depot had sales of $132.1 billion and earnings of $12.9 billion. The Company employs approximately 500,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

The company’s corporate headquarters is located in Cobb County, near Vinings and the Cumberland Community Improvement District.