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Lam Research announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 30c, or 15%, increase in its quarterly dividend, from $2.00 to $2.30 per share of common stock. The dividend [...]

Lam Research Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a $0.225, or 15%, increase in its quarterly dividend, from $1.50 to $1.725 per share of common stock. This [...]

Lam Research announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 20c, or 15% increase, in its quarterly dividend, from $1.30 to $1.50 per share of common stock. This increase [...]

Lam Research announced that its board has approved a 15c or 13% increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.15 to $1.30 per share of common stock. This increase is consistent [...]

Lam Research Corporation announced that its board has approved a 5c increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share from $1.10 per share of common stock. The dividend payment [...]

Abstract Purpose--The paper aims to test the stability of dividend policy, test the effect of cash flow on the company's dividend policy, identify the factors that determine a finn's cash [...]

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of dividend initiations on shareholders' wealth using a sample of 38 Greek listed firms. Design/methodology/approach--The event study methodology of Brown and Warner was employed to examine the share price reaction to initial dividend announcements across different information environments. Findings Results show that dividend initiations bring about significant positive abnormal returns in the announcement period. The price response to dividend initiations is inversely associated with the information environment. Finally, the volatility of stock returns is higher in the low information environment group of firms than in the high information environment group of firms. Research limitations/implications--The observations are not many, although the whole population is included, since there are no data available prior to 2000. Practical implications These findings are useful to researchers, practitioners and investors who have an interest in firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) for their proper strategic decision making. Originality/value--For the first time the stock price behaviour of firms listed on the ASE around dividend initiation announcement dates is examined. Keywords Greece, Corporate finances, Dividends, Share prices Paper type Research paper

Lam Research announced that its Board of Directors has approved a $2B share repurchase authorization, with execution planned over the next 12 to 18 months; and a 11% increase of [...]

Purpose--This paper seeks to examine the long-run financial and return performance of UK companies which are grouped according to whether or not they have changed their dividends and earnings. Prior research has been conducted using US data and they are limited to extreme dividend changes such as dividend initiations and omissions. They have also arrived at contradicting results; some report a drift in performance, while others document evidence of mean reversion in performance. The current paper hopes to resolve this conflict using data for a large sample of UK firms which disclosed more general changes in dividends and earnings. Design/methodology/approach The aims of the paper are addressed using a stock market-based study of share price performance and a detailed analysis of company performance based on financial ratios. These analyses are conducted from five years before to five years after the announcement of dividend/earnings news. Findings--At the time of the announcements, share returns tend to be positive (negative) where companies have increased (decreased) the dividend and earnings. There is also evidence to suggest that the stock market has anticipated some of this news in the preceding 12 months. However, the dividend/ earnings news does not appear to act as a signal of long-term future company performance; companies which cut this dividend and reported lower earnings achieved the largest excess returns over the next five years. A similar mean-revealing pattern existed in the financial ratios. Finally, most of the future long-term share performance was attributable to the earnings rather than to the dividend news. Research limitations/implications--The main implication of this research is that current dividend/ earnings news is not a good guide to future company performance. Indeed, it is these firms which cut their dividends along with reporting a reduction of earnings which achieve excellent results over a subsequent five-year period. Of course, there are a number of limitations with the research; it draws on data from two previous studies, looks only at the UK and does not consider sophisticated models of investors' expectations with regard to dividend and earnings information. Originality/value--The main contribution of this paper is the long-run analysis of UK company performance following joint dividend-earnings announcements. The analysis is comprehensive in that it considers both stock market performance as well as financial ratio performance for a period of up to five years following the dividend-earnings news. Thus, it should be of interest to most UK investors as well as to financial managers with large quoted firms. Academics will also be interested in the results since they shed some light on an existing debate in the literature. Keywords Dividends, Returns, Financial performance Paper type Research paper

Purpose--This paper aims to explore the potential use of a dividend capture strategy by individual investors. This strategy arises from the 2003 tax law changes which lowered tax rates on dividends received, while leaving the short-term tax rates on capital losses unchanged. In addition, leverage can be used in combination with an aggressive call-writing strategy to receive a multiple of the tax-advantaged dividend yield without a corresponding increase in risk. Design/methodology/approach--In addition to illustrating how the dividend capture strategy works, a new method of comparing returns between strategies is developed. This method does not rely on a particular risk-return model, such as is used by the Sharpe ratio or Jensen's alpha methodologies. Finally, a formula is derived which computes the borrowing (margin loan) rate that makes the aggressive call-writing strategy profitable. Findings--The 2003 changes in US tax laws provide individuals with an opportunity to apply dividend capture techniques similar to those which have been available to corporations for many years. However, corporations use dividend capture techniques to lower risk, while individuals require risk exposure to keep the possibility for capital gains. Thus, a method is developed for capturing an enhanced tax refund on the drop in stock price caused by the stock going ex-dividend without giving up the potential for capital gain. A byproduct of this method is a straightforward means to measure risk-adjusted returns for the covered call strategy. The aggressive call-writing strategy described in this paper is found to offer enhanced returns without an increase in risk for those in the top individual tax brackets. Research limitations/implications--The specific level of additional risk-adjusted returns available depends on the tax rates and interest (margin loan) rates facing the investor. Practical implications--Following the 2003 tax law changes, individuals can receive returns on stocks higher than implied by the statutory tax rate on dividends by employing a dividend capture strategy which involves writing call options on dividend-paying stocks. This paper also demonstrates that the risk exposure necessary to obtain full capital gains potential can be maintained with an aggressive strategy. This strategy inherently provides a method to judge the extent of improvement without having to rely on questionable assumptions of any specific asset-pricing model. Originality/value--The paper provides an alternative to conventional covered call-writing strategies which reduce exposure to capital gains. Individual investors and their advisors will find a method to maintain exposure to market risk and therefore the full potential for capital gains, while receiving preferential tax treatment on dividends received. Researchers will find a method to directly compute risk-adjusted return for covered call-writing strategies without having to rely on assumptions made in the asset-pricing models underlying the Sharpe ratio and Jensen's alpha. Keywords Dividends, Options markets, Tax returns Paper type Research paper

Purpose--To study the perception of dividends by the professional investor, for whom mutual fund managers are a proxy. The main line of research in dividends is based on using market data that are fit, ex post, to a cherished hypothesis. It is believed, however, that such data cannot measure motivation which is the underlying force behind generating market data. An understanding of motivation will give us more insight into the dividend paradox (why shareholders love dividends) than just the surface reality one can glean from market data. Design/methodology/approach--Using a survey instrument, the method of analysis (not methodology) is factor analysis and hierarchical grouping that uncovers three distinct groups of professional investors re their attitude towards dividend. This categorization clearly shows that the dividends are perceived differently by the groups found here. Thus, research in dividends cannot follow a traditional route in which the phenomenon is treated as universal, or something similar to a natural occurrence. Findings--Three groups from the more traditional: the more growth-oriented, aggressive; and a middle-of-the-road group are posited. Although there are some uniformly accepted tenets across the groups, nevertheless, the more traditional group attributes far more importance to dividends than the growth-oriented group. The latter group perceives dividends as something needed to pacify the shareholder. It is also concluded that none of the academic hypotheses contrived to explain dividend behavior can be supported by empirical evidence. The interesting result is, nevertheless, that the ex post group performance is not significantly different between each possible pairing of the three groups. Research limitations/implications--As all empirical research goes, results cannot be allconclusive, because of time and participation in the sample. This fact alone should not grind to a halt all empirical work. This work is part of a segment of three different studies examining the perception of dividends by corporate managers, and across countries. The next logical step is obviously studying the perception of dividends by the non-professional investor. Originality/value--This kind of work was almost never done. This is a first, because unfortunately traditional research that dominates most finance journals does not believe that motivation counts. First, because it satisfies one's desire to better understand the dividend puzzle. But it should be of interest to all who want to study the dividend decision in the firm, and why shareholders love dividends, something entirely not rational as far as economic rationality goes. Keywords Dividends, Fund management, Surveys, Group theory, Factor analysis Paper type Research paper Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas(Lucky is who understands the causes of things).