General Mills and Micron Raised Their Dividends. Banks Should Be Lifting Theirs Soon, Too.
General Mills and Micron Technology declared dividend increases this week, and various large banks announced plans for their disbursements.
General Mills (ticker: GIS) said it plans to boost its quarterly dividend to 54 cents, up from 51 cents, for an increase of nearly 6%.
The stock, which yields 2.9%, has returned about 13.6% this year through June 30, dividends included, compared with minus 20% for the S&P 500 .
M icron Technology (MU) declared a quarterly disbursement of 11.5 cents a share, an increase of 15% from 10 cents. The semiconductor company’s stock, which has returned around minus 40% this year, yields 0.8%.
Elsewhere, some—but not all—of the largest U.S. banks have said they intend to raise their dividends, though they did not officially declare increases. This followed the last round of financial stress tests administered by the Federal Reserve.
Wells Fargo (WFC), for example, said it expects to raise its third-quarter dividend to 30 cents a share from 25 cents. Bank of America (BAC) said it plans to boost its quarterly payout to 22 cents a share, up nearly 5% from 21 cents. And Goldman Sachs (GS) said its capital plan includes raising the quarterly dividend to $2.50 a share from $2.
In contrast, Citigroup (C) said it plans to maintain its quarterly dividend at 51 cents a share for the third quarter.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said it plans to keep its quarterly dividend at $1 a share for the third quarter “in light of higher future capital requirements.”
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]
