Eli Lilly said this week that it will boost its quarterly dividend.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Offering some holiday cheer to their shareholders, Eli Lilly, Amgen, Franklin Resources, and Darden Restaurants were among the U.S. companies that declared dividend increases this week.
Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly (ticker: LLY) said it will boost its quarterly payout to 85 cents a share, up 15% from 74 cents. The stock, which has returned about 32% this year, was recently yielding 2%.
Total returns include dividends and stock price appreciation.
Biotech company Amgen (AMGN) declared a quarterly disbursement of $1.76 a share, compared with $1.60 currently, for a 10% boost. The stock, which yields 3%, has returned around minus 2% in 2020.
Asset manager Franklin Resources (BEN) plans to raise its quarterly payout by a penny, or nearly 4%, to 28 cents a share. The stock, which yields 4.5%, has returned about 1% year to date. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, all of which have paid out a higher dividend every year for at least 25 straight years.
Darden Restaurants (DRI) declared a quarterly dividend of 37 cents a share, up 7 cents, or 23%, from 30 cents. The stock, which yields 2%, has returned about 10% this year.
Darden earlier this year suspended its dividend to preserve cash at the onset of the pandemic. The company, however, reinstated its quarterly payout in September at 30 cents a share as business conditions improved.
Dividend increases, which were very rare early in the pandemic as plenty of firms cut or suspended their payouts, have become more frequent as 2020 has gone along. Goldman Sachs is forecasting a 1% drop in 2020 dividend payments by S&P 500 companies versus last year’s levels. The firm expects those dividends to increase by 5% next year.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]
