Mattel (MAT +2.43%) has lifted its dividend by 16%. The company is to pay $0.36 per share of its common stock on March 8 to stockholders of record as of Feb. 22. Last year in all four quarters, the company disbursed $0.31 per share.
The move was announced concurrently with the company's Q4 and 2012 results. Those showed an year-on-year increase in sales and a decline in GAAP earnings per share. Both came in lower than average analyst estimates.
However, the dividend announcement also closely follows a federal appeals court decision to toss more than half of a $310 million verdict against the company. This was the latest development in Mattel's long-running dispute with MGA Entertainment over the intellectual property of the Bratz line of dolls.
