Lincoln National Corporation's Quarterly Dividend Provides 2.2% Yield, Authorizes Additional Share Buyback Capacity

Lincoln Financial Group LNC disclosed Friday that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share. It would work out to $1.00 a share for full year. The dividend provided a yield of 2.2 percent, which is better than the five-year average dividend yield of 1.4 percent.

Lincoln said that the dividend on the common stock would be payable August 1 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 11. Its dividend payout ratio was only 22.0 percent. As the company has been increasing its dividend rate for the last five years, its growth rate for the five-year period was 52.8 percent.

Additionally, the board also approved an increase to its authority to buyback its securities bringing the total repurchase authority to a maximum of $1 billion. The company said that under this authority and without further announcement, it might repurchase securities as it deems appropriate. The company indicated that the repurchase authority did not have a termination date.

Shares of the company traded 1.08 percent higher on Friday.