Territorial Bancorp Inc. has declared its third special cash dividend in the last three years.

The parent of Territorial Savings Bank announced Tuesday it would make a payment of 10 cents a share on Dec. 23 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 9.

The special dividends — all have been 10 cents a share — are in addition to the regular quarterly payouts that the state’s fifth-largest bank has been making since shortly after it went public in July 2009.

Last month, Territorial said it was increasing its regular quarterly dividend for the seventh time in less than three years. That payout of 16 cents a share will be payable Wednesday to shareholders of record on Nov. 13.

"This special dividend … is a return to our shareholders for supporting us over the past year, Territorial Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Allan Kitagawa said. "As we are in our fifth year as being a publicly held company, we want to take this time to thank all of our shareholders and are pleased that our performance to date in 2014 and our strong capital position allows us to share this with you. We believe that our payment of this special dividend allows us to continue building shareholder value."

Territorial earned $10.6 million through the first nine months of this year, down 4.4 percent from $11.1 million durinf the year-earlier period.

The bank’s stock rose 4 cents to $20.97 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The special dividend announcement was made during the trading session.