02-29-2020, 02:46 AM
(02-28-2020, 08:45 PM)crimsonghost747 Wrote:(02-28-2020, 03:32 PM)EricL Wrote: MELBOURNE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Board of Directors of L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 85 cents per share on the common stock, payable March 27, 2020, to shareholders of record on the close of business on March 13, 2020.
“This 13% dividend increase, on top of the 10% increase announced this past July, reflects our confidence in strong free cash flow generation and a commitment to drive value for shareholders,” said William M. Brown, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Well, really mixed feelings about this.
Sure, I do enjoy it when the div goes up 24% year on year. That is more than phenomenal and means a lot of beer money for me. And I like beer money!
But LHX's management was very adamant about using extra cash for share repurchases. The current repurchase program is pretty massive and they were planning on using extra cash from divestments (one new one announced just this week) to further increase it. This is all from their earnings call which was less than a month ago.
And now that the share price is actually pretty decent for share repurchases, they are starting to shift their mindset from repurchases to dividends? Perplexing.
I see it as a positive. Even with this increase, the payout ratio on 2020 earnings is a tad below 30%, which is pretty reasonable, and should still leave room for buybacks.