July sales at Educational Development Corp. jumped 74.7% over July 2015, hitting $4.3 million. The July gain follows a strong increase in first quarter sales in which sales rose 34%.

The increases, which EDC reported, for both the quarter and July were due to a big gain in the company's direct sales business. In this unit, July sales rose 126%, to $2.9 million. EDC chairman Randall White attributed the improvement in direct sales to 4,000 new sales associates who joined the company between June 15 to July 31, 2015. EDC distributes and publishes a wide range of children's books.

With the strong revenue performance, EDC raised its dividend by 12.5%.