Delta Air Lines Inc. on Wednesday unveiled plans to boost its
dividend by 50% and buy back $5 billion in shares over the next two
and a half years.
Shares rose 2.7% in premarket trading.
Delta said it will raise its quarterly dividend to $0.135 a
share starting in the September quarter. The increase will bring
its yield up to 1.2%. In comparison, American Airlines Group Inc.
has a yield of 0.82%, while Southwest Airlines Co. has a yield of
0.57%.
Meanwhile, the company said it will complete a $5 billion
share-buyback program by December 2017. The company is on track to
complete the remaining $725 million of its $2 billion buyback
program by the end of June, a year and a half ahead of
schedule.
Delta unveiled its shareholder-return strategy three years ago.
The program, which included stock buybacks and dividends, was seen
as a rarity among U.S. carriers still nursing years of accumulated
losses. The initial plans were for $500 million in stock
repurchases to be completed by June 2016 and a six-cent quarterly
dividend.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
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