What happened
There's nothing like a dividend raise to juice interest in a stock. So it was on Wednesday, when prominent mobile tech specialist Qualcomm (QCOM -2.36%) declared one. Grateful investors promptly traded the stock up, and it closed the day 1.7% higher. This was a far better performance than that of the S&P 500 index, which inched up only 0.1%.
So what
Qualcomm delivered its happy news before market open, revealing that its quarterly payout would increase from the present level of $0.75 per share to $0.80. That shakes out into a 7% increase.
This wasn't a shock or surprise for anyone. Somewhat atypically in the often capital-hungry tech sector, Qualcomm has been a reliable dividend payer and frequent raiser for over a decade. It habitually lifts its distribution near the start of every year, and 2023 has proven to be no exception.
In its press release trumpeting the new payout, the company indicated it would be "steady as she goes" regarding the dividend policy and other shareholder-pleasing moves. CEO Christiano Amon said, "We remain committed to returning capital to stockholders through a balanced capital return policy, including a baseline of anti-dilutive stock repurchases."
Now what
Qualcomm has not yet specified when it will pay its raised dividend, nor has it set its record or ex-dividend dates. The company's latest payout had a record date of March 2 and is to be dispensed on March 23, so we can reasonably assume the upcoming dates will be roughly three months afterward.
At the current share price, the new disbursement would yield a relatively generous 2.6%.
