Legg Mason (LM) is moving its next quarterly dividend payment forward. The company's previously announced payout of $0.11 per common share for the second quarter of its fiscal 2013 will be brought forward to Dec. 28. It was originally to be disbursed on Jan. 7.
The record date remains unchanged at Dec. 12. Legg Mason declared the dividend this past October, at a level matching that of the two preceding quarters.
The company's move is an increasingly common one in these last few weeks of 2012. Many firms are bringing forward their next quarterly or even full-year 2013 dividend payouts presumably to ensure recipients will not be subject to sharply increased dividend taxes that will be enacted next year if the "fiscal cliff" is not avoided.
