Companies in the S&P 500 “spent a record amount on dividend payments in the first three months of the year,” according to a recent article in MarketWatch.

The article cites data from S&P Dow Jones Indices that showed an $18.8 billion net increase in U.S. common stock dividends in the first quarter of 2018, compared with a $10.9 billion rise over the same period in 2017.

According to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at the firm, “At this point, given the record cash levels, repatriation and expected record earnings helped by lower tax rates, 2018 could post its seventh consecutive year of record payments.”