Expecting a strong year for cash flow, Northrop Grumman [NOC] on Wednesday said it will increases its quarterly stock dividend by 15 percent.
The increase to 70 cents per share from the current rate of 61 cents is payable on June 18 and marks the 11th straight year the company has increased its quarterly stock dividend.
“Today’s dividend increase is consistent with our approach of maintaining a competitive payout ratio as we reduce our share count to achieve the repurchase goal we announced in May of 2013,” Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman’s chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement.
Last May the company authorized an additional $4 billion for the repurchase of its stock, bringing its share repurchase program up to $5 billion at the time with the goal of retiring 25 percent of outstanding shares.
In the first quarter of this year Northrop Grumman posted $462 million of free cash outflow, but said it expects to generate free cash of between $1.7 billion and $2 billion for 2014.