WOONSOCKET – CVS Caremark Corp. said Tuesday its board of directors has approved a 15 percent increase in the pharmacy giant’s quarterly dividend.
CVS shareholders as of Jan. 22 will get a dividend on 8.75 cents a share, payable Feb. 2. The dividend had been 7.625 cents. The new dividend will total 35 cents a share annually, an increase of 4.5 cents.
This marks the seventh straight year CVS has increased its dividend, the company said. This year’s increase is larger than last year’s boost of 10.5 percent and matches the 2008 increase of 15 percent. In 2007, the CVS board increased the dividend 23 percent.
“This considerable increase reflects our continued strong financial performance, our optimism with respect to future growth and our significant cash generation capabilities,” CVS Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David M. Denton said in a statement.
CVS stock fell 1.1 percent on Tuesday to close at $33.56 a share in New York Stock Exchange trading. The shares dropped 20 percent to close at $28.87 on Nov. 5 after the company disclosed the loss of billions in pharmacy-benefit management contracts for 2010. They have increased 16 percent since then.
Additional information is available at cvscaremark.com.
Funny how the board gets an increase but employees are only allowed a 2.5 percent pay increase, and hours are cut to save money.