Applied Materials Is Raising Its Dividend 9%. It Was an Active Week for Payout News.
Qualcomm is raising its quarterly payout to 68 cents a share from 65 cents.
Pau Barrena / AFP via Getty Images
Applied Materials, Colgate-Palmolive, and Qualcomm were among the large U.S. companies that declared dividend increases in a busy week for such announcements.
Applied Materials (ticker: AMAT), which makes equipment for chip manufacturing, plans to boost its quarterly payout by 9% to 24 cents from 22 cents.
The stock, which yields 0.8%, has a one-year return of about 150%, dividends included. Barron’s cited the company’s stock recently as an example of having a low dividend yield but fast growth.
Colgate-Palmolive (CL) declared a quarterly dividend of 45 cents a share, up by a penny or 2%.
The stock, which yields 2.3%, has a one-year return of about 21%.
The consumer products company is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, which have paid out a higher dividend for 25 straight years.
Semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company Qualcomm (QCOM) said it will raise its quarterly disbursement to 68 cents a share, up 5% from 65 cents.
The stock, which was recently yielding about 2%, has nearly doubled over the past year.
Elsewhere, retailer L Brands (LB) said it will reinstate its annual dividend at 60 cents a share starting with a quarterly disbursement to be paid in June. That would be 15 cents a share on a quarterly basis.
The company suspended its quarterly dividend about a year ago, one of many companies to do that as they tried to preserve capital during the pandemic.
The stock has returned nearly 300% over the past 12 months. The company’s brands include Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
In other news, Johnson Controls International (JCI) plans to boost its annual dividend to $1.08 a share from $1.04 for an increase of nearly 4%. That would be 27 cents a share on a quarterly basis.
The stock, which yields 1.8%, has a one-year return of about 105%.
Tech behemoth Oracle (ORCL) declared a quarterly dividend of 32 cents a share, an increase of 33% from 24 cents. The stock, which has a one-year return of about 70%, yields 1.9%.
Home builder Toll Brothers (TOL) said it will raise its quarterly dividend by 6 cents, or 55%, to 17 cents a share from 11 cents.
The stock, which has more than doubled over the past 12 months, yields 1.2%.
Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), which operates a national chain of stores, said it will lift its quarterly dividend to 36.25 cents, up 16% from 31.25 cents.
The stock yields 1.9%.It has nearly tripled over the past year.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]
