Boston, MA 08/12/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Manufacturer of branded consumer lawn and garden products Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG) disclosed a triple bonanza for its shareholders on Monday after the market closed. The company’s board had declared a special dividend, a share buyback program and an increase in regular quarterly dividend. As a result, the stock advanced over $2 in the extended hours of trading on Monday.
Special Dividend
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG), which has been paying dividend since 2005, said that its board had approved a special cash dividend of $2 a share, which is a one-time affair, to its shareholders. The special dividend would be paid to the shareholders on September 17 to those shareholders’ name appearing in the books of record of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co on September 3.
Increase In Dividend
The branded consumer lawn maker also said that its board had approved a 3% uptick in its quarterly dividend rate to 45 cents a share. The fourth quarter dividend would be paid on September 10 to its shareholders of record on August 27.
Dividend Yield
The latest dividend offers 3.2% yield with projected 10-year dividend of 62.55%. The average dividend yield for the five-year period works out to 2.4%. The latest dividend represents $1.80 on an annualized basis.
The current dividend ratio of Scotts Miracle-Gro Co represents 68% while the five-year average dividend payout ratio was 52%. The three-year average and the five-year average dividend growth rate were 20.98% and 32.59% respectively thus indicating consecutive increases in dividend rate in the last four years.
Share Repurchase
Aside from the special dividend and increase in dividend, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG) had also disclosed a fresh share buyback program of $500 million. This would replace the current authorization program that is set to expire on September 30 and would remain till the end of the fiscal year 2019.
The company’s chairman and CEO Jim Hagedorn said that its latest actions demonstrated its confidence in the continued success of its business apart from the favorable outlook that the leadership team shares with the board. He also indicated that it would always focus on driving shareholders value whether it was in investing growth prospects or returning cash to them.
