Wolverine World Wide, Inc. has announced a 50% increase in its quarterly cash dividend and also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 3-for-2 common stock split. The dividend increase raises the pre-split quarterly cash dividend from $.065 per share to $.0975 per share. On a post-split basis, the cash dividend would equal $.065 per share.
The record date for the stock split and the cash dividend is January 3, 2005. Stockholders of record on that date will receive one new share of common stock for every two shares they own and will receive cash in lieu of fractional shares. Stockholders of record as of January 3, 2005, will also be paid a quarterly cash dividend of $.0975 per share on a pre-split basis. The distribution of the cash dividend, the additional shares issued pursuant to the stock split and cash in lieu of any fractional shares will be paid on February 1, 2005.
“The stock split provides an opportunity to broaden our base of investors and improve the trading liquidity of our stock,” said Timothy J. ODonovan, Wolverine’s President and CEO. “The dividend increase demonstrates our commitment to maximizing stockholder return and reflects our continued generation of cash and strong operating results. This action marks our twelfth consecutive year of dividend increases and raises Wolverine’s dividend yield from .8% to 1.3% on an annualized basis.”
