Dominion Resources Inc.'s board of directors on Dec. 16 increased the company's annual dividend rate by 7.9% to $3.02 per share of common stock in 2017, up from $2.80 per share in 2016, the company said in a news release. The first quarterly dividend of 75.5 cents per share will be payable in March 2017, Dominion said.

Dominion added that the expected 2017 dividend increase, subject to board declaration in January, would mark the 14th consecutive year in which its annual dividend rate increased from the previous year.

"Through our board's action today, Dominion remains steadfast that our long-term growth strategy will provide to our company's owners annual 8 percent increases in our dividend rate through the end of this decade," Dominion Chairman, President and CEO Thomas Farrell II said in a written statement.