Dueling Fools: Dividends vs. Buybacks
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz
September 14, 2007
Recommended (9)
Will stock repurchases doom disbursements? It's not my question. It's how Shirley Lazo kicked off her column in this past weekend's Barron's. With more and more companies turning to massive share repurchases -- in some years to the tune of eclipsing actual cash payouts -- she wonders if the gravy dividend days are over.
Ralph Casale and I debated the issue last year, but with Timothy Otte and Chuck Saletta battling it out over the same topic in an email discussion last month, we all felt it was best to revisit the topic with fresh opinions.
Chuck feels that cash dividends are the best move. Timothy prefers to see companies repurchase chunks of their outstanding shares.
Sure, you can have it both ways. In recent months, companies like CBS (NYSE: CBS), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) have declared wider payouts, padded with ambitious share buybacks.
However, not all companies are made out of money. They have choices to make. Dividends? Buybacks? Which Fool will deliver the winning argument? That's what this week's bout is all about.
Duel on!
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