Core to our enterprise strategy is our highly focused and disciplined approach to capital
allocation. We invest only where we can leverage the ITW Business Model to create
compelling competitive advantage and deliver sustained differentiated performance. We
will not deploy capital in areas of opportunity that reside outside of our core
capabilities. Internal investments to grow and support our highly profitable core
businesses remain our top capital allocation priority. As a result, every internal
investment that fits our strategy and meets our return criteria is fully funded. We
allocate capital to discrete projects and strategies, not in lump sums to our
businesses, ensuring that every investment we make is aligned with our business model,
our strategy and our financial objectives. Our second priority is an attractive
dividend, which we view as a very important component of our total shareholder return
equation given the strong and consistent cash flow-generating attributes of our business
model. We have increased our annual dividend consecutively for more than 59 years,
including a 7% increase in 2022, bringing the dividend to $5.24 per share on an
annualized basis.
While organic growth will remain our number one long-term priority, we expect that
compelling opportunities to supplement our organic growth agenda with a high-quality
strategic acquisition may emerge such as the MTS Test & Simulation acquisition that closed in December 2021. After funding these
capital allocation priorities, we will continue to utilize an active share repurchase
program to return any surplus capital to our shareholders.