Raytheon Raises Dividend

By Eric Volkman – Mar 20, 2013 at 6:00PM

NYSE: RTN

Raytheon

The defense company increases its payout by 10%.

Raytheon's (RTN) first dividend for 2013 will be a little bit larger for shareholders. The defense company will hand out $0.55 per share of its common stock on May 2 to shareholders of record as of April 3. That amount is a 10% increase over the previous payout of $0.50, which was dispensed in all four quarters of 2012.

Raytheon pointed out in the press release announcing the move that this represents the company's ninth consecutive increase in its annual dividend. Over that time, its regular quarterly payout has risen steadily from a floor of $0.20 per share.

The new dividend annualizes to $2.20 per share. That yields 3.9% at Raytheon's current stock price of $57.00.

Fool contributor Eric Volkman has no position in Raytheon. The Motley Fool owns shares of Raytheon. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.