Lockheed Martin [LMT] yesterday boosted its quarterly dividend by 33 percent and authorized up to an additional $2.5 billion in stock repurchases under its stock buy back program.
The company’s new quarterly dividend will be $1 per share, payable on Dec. 30. The increase is 25 cents higher than the current dividend and represents the ninth consecutive annual increase of at least 10 percent in the company’s quarterly dividend rate.
“We continue to deliver on our long-standing goal to return at least 50 percent of free cash flow” to shareholders, Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
In August, Lockheed Martin approved a $1 billion increase to its existing share repurchase program, which was expected to reach its $3 billion limit before the company’s board met this month to review the repurchase program (Defense Daily, Aug. 24).