List Gets Longer, Dividendpaloosa Hits Wall Street (JPM) (WFC) (USB) (BBT) (STT) (GS)
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The Federal Reserve on Friday cleared the way for some major banks in the U.S. to resume the return of profit to shareholders through increased dividend payments and stock buybacks, and some of the biggest names on Wall Street wasted no time.
Within a matter of minutes before noon on Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) each announced increased dividend payments, along with most laying out share buybacks.
The payment of dividends and other means to return capital to investors had been restricted under the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the financial meltdown. But the Fed said Friday that the banks can increase dividends if they pass stress tests.
JPMorgan was one of the first, as its Board of Directors authorized a 400 percent increase to its quarterly dividend payment from 5 cents to 25 cents per common share, or $1.00 annualized. The dividend is payable on April 30 to shareholders of record on April 6. The ex-dividend date is April 4. The yield is 2.19 percent.
The bank also announced the authorization of a $15 billion stock buyback program.
JPMorgan CEO Jamin Dimon said, "We expect, though at a minimum, essentially to repurchase the same amount of shares that we issue for employee stock-based incentive awards. Beyond this, we intend to repurchase stock only when we are generating capital in excess of what we need to fund our organic growth and when we think it provides excellent value to our existing shareholders.”
Wells Fargo joined the party on Friday, increasing its first-quarter dividend payment to 12 cents per share by declaring a 7 special dividend payment of 7 cents to accompany the the bank's previously announced payment of 5 cents. The special dividend is payable March 31, 2011, to stockholders of record on March 28, 2011. The ex-dividend date is March 24, 2011. The yield is 1.5 percent on the 48 cents annualized dividend.
Wells Fargo added to the fray with the authorization to buyback an additional 200 million shares of common stock.
“We are extremely pleased to reward our shareholders with an increased dividend,” said CEO John Stumpf. “Throughout the recent economic downturn, Wells Fargo remained focused on providing customers with the financial services they need – that is our time-tested strategy for successful performance and delivering value to shareholders."
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: was actually the first out of the gate with a 6.7 percent increase to its quarterly dividend from 15 cents to 16 cents per share, or 64 cents annualized. The company has also announced a special dividend of 1 cent per common share.
The dividends will be paid on May 2 to shareholders of record on April 8. The ex-dividend date is April 6. The dividend yield moves from 2.21% to 2.36%.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) increased its quarterly dividend 150 percent from $0.05 to $0.125, or $0.50 annualized. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2011. The ex-dividend date is March 29, 2011. The yield is no 1.9 percent.
U.S. Bancorp also approved a 50 million common stock buyback.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) did not announced a dividend payment, but said it will payback TARP funds, while initiating a $1 billion buyback program.
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) said that it did not receive any objection to raising its dividend from regulators, but has yet to make an announcement.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) both will be raising money to payback TARP.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) said it expects to return capital to shareholders in 2012 and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) didn't make any moves, saying they are comfortable with their capital levels.
Later in the afternoon on Friday Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) announced that it had been cleared by the Fed's stress tests, allowing the bank to increase dividends and buybacks. Goldman announced that it would redeem preferred stock issued to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B).
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) announced it has raised its quarterly dividend from 1 cents to 18 cents per share common share, or 72 cents annualized. The dividend is payable April 15, to stockholders of record as of April 1. The ex-dividend date is March 30. Yield on the dividend is 1.6%.
State Street also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new common stock purchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $675 million of common stock in 2011.
Midday movement of bank shares that acted on Friday:
Wells Fargo up 2.04 percent to $32.00
JPMorgan up 3.14 percent to $45.96
U.S. Bancorp up 2.16 percent to $26.92
BB&T up 1.90 percent to $27.38
SunTrust up 4.74 percent to $29.60
State Street up 1.76 percent to $44.16
Goldman Sachs up 2.59 percent to $159.68
Within a matter of minutes before noon on Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) each announced increased dividend payments, along with most laying out share buybacks.
The payment of dividends and other means to return capital to investors had been restricted under the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the financial meltdown. But the Fed said Friday that the banks can increase dividends if they pass stress tests.
JPMorgan was one of the first, as its Board of Directors authorized a 400 percent increase to its quarterly dividend payment from 5 cents to 25 cents per common share, or $1.00 annualized. The dividend is payable on April 30 to shareholders of record on April 6. The ex-dividend date is April 4. The yield is 2.19 percent.
The bank also announced the authorization of a $15 billion stock buyback program.
JPMorgan CEO Jamin Dimon said, "We expect, though at a minimum, essentially to repurchase the same amount of shares that we issue for employee stock-based incentive awards. Beyond this, we intend to repurchase stock only when we are generating capital in excess of what we need to fund our organic growth and when we think it provides excellent value to our existing shareholders.”
Wells Fargo joined the party on Friday, increasing its first-quarter dividend payment to 12 cents per share by declaring a 7 special dividend payment of 7 cents to accompany the the bank's previously announced payment of 5 cents. The special dividend is payable March 31, 2011, to stockholders of record on March 28, 2011. The ex-dividend date is March 24, 2011. The yield is 1.5 percent on the 48 cents annualized dividend.
Wells Fargo added to the fray with the authorization to buyback an additional 200 million shares of common stock.
“We are extremely pleased to reward our shareholders with an increased dividend,” said CEO John Stumpf. “Throughout the recent economic downturn, Wells Fargo remained focused on providing customers with the financial services they need – that is our time-tested strategy for successful performance and delivering value to shareholders."
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: was actually the first out of the gate with a 6.7 percent increase to its quarterly dividend from 15 cents to 16 cents per share, or 64 cents annualized. The company has also announced a special dividend of 1 cent per common share.
The dividends will be paid on May 2 to shareholders of record on April 8. The ex-dividend date is April 6. The dividend yield moves from 2.21% to 2.36%.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) increased its quarterly dividend 150 percent from $0.05 to $0.125, or $0.50 annualized. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2011, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2011. The ex-dividend date is March 29, 2011. The yield is no 1.9 percent.
U.S. Bancorp also approved a 50 million common stock buyback.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) did not announced a dividend payment, but said it will payback TARP funds, while initiating a $1 billion buyback program.
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) said that it did not receive any objection to raising its dividend from regulators, but has yet to make an announcement.
SunTrust (NYSE: STI) and KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) both will be raising money to payback TARP.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) said it expects to return capital to shareholders in 2012 and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) didn't make any moves, saying they are comfortable with their capital levels.
Later in the afternoon on Friday Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) announced that it had been cleared by the Fed's stress tests, allowing the bank to increase dividends and buybacks. Goldman announced that it would redeem preferred stock issued to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B).
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) announced it has raised its quarterly dividend from 1 cents to 18 cents per share common share, or 72 cents annualized. The dividend is payable April 15, to stockholders of record as of April 1. The ex-dividend date is March 30. Yield on the dividend is 1.6%.
State Street also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new common stock purchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $675 million of common stock in 2011.
Midday movement of bank shares that acted on Friday:
Wells Fargo up 2.04 percent to $32.00
JPMorgan up 3.14 percent to $45.96
U.S. Bancorp up 2.16 percent to $26.92
BB&T up 1.90 percent to $27.38
SunTrust up 4.74 percent to $29.60
State Street up 1.76 percent to $44.16
Goldman Sachs up 2.59 percent to $159.68
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