Fortune Brands Cuts Dividend By 57%
- April 28, 2009
- Dividend News, Dividend Stocks
- Add a comment
Fortune Brands (FO: 0.00 N/A) announced today that the company is reducing their quarterly dividend by 57% to $.19 per share.
The dividend cut reduces Fortune Brand’s current dividend yield from 4.8% to 2.1%.
“This is not an action we took lightly. However, we believe aligning our dividend with our historical payout ratio is a prudent course of action in the current environment and is in the best long-term interest of our shareholders. I also want to underscore that we remain committed to a meaningful dividend, and we look forward to building on it in the future,” said Bruce Carbonari, chairman and chief executive officer of Fortune Brands.
Reducing their dividend payout level is expected to save the company $150 million per year.
The dividend will be payable on June 1, 2009 to shareholders of record as of May 13, 2009.
Fortune Brands also pre-announced first quarter earnings results that were ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. The company expects to report earnings of $.30 per share, while analysts were only expecting earnings of $.18 per share.
The stock responded positively to the earnings announcement, sending shares up 3.9% to $37.94. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has declined 8%.
