Consumer products giant Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) announced a two-for-one stock split and a 10% dividend hike before markets opened this morning. Both the stock split and the higher dividend become effective in the second quarter of this year.
The company’s CEO said:
Colgate finished 2012 with excellent growth momentum worldwide, driven by broad new product success. Today’s actions demonstrate our confidence in the continued strong and profitable growth of Colgate’s global business.
The record date for the stock split is April 30th and shares are scheduled to be distributed on May 15th. The total of shares outstanding will rise from approximately 468 million to 936 million.
The company’s quarterly dividend will rise from $0.62 to $0.68 on a pre-split basis. The current dividend yield of 2.1% will rise to around 2.35% on a pre-split basis. On a split-adjusted basis, the new dividend will be $1.36 per share.
Shares of Colgate-Palmolive are up about 2% in premarket trading this morning, at $117.50, a new 52-week high if it holds. The current 52-week range is $92.50 to $116.17. The consensus target price is around $113.60, so look for some changes here as well.
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