Nomura Analyst Weighs In On Disney Raising Dividend

Walt Disney Co DIS announced on Wednesday that it is increasing its dividend by 15 percent on an annualized basis and will start paying them twice a year.

Anthony DiClemente, Nomura senior analyst, was on CNBC Thursday to weigh in on this.

Committed To Returning Capital

"Disney has been committed to returning capital to shareholders over time," DiClemente said. "So, if you look at the way Disney has grown its dividend, it's growing at compounded annual growth rate of over 20 percent over the last four years. And then you put that together with the buyback policy, which the company has returned more than $8 billion in capital in terms of buybacks and dividends."

Related Link: Disney Sprints To New All-Time High Amid Dividend Increase

He continued, "One thing I like about Disney is they open – just the way their content, their brands – open their audiences to the mainstream. So does investor relations, in the sense that you have growth investors, you have income-oriented investors and you have strong management. It's not a closely held company, single class of stock. So, they have really done a great job opening up the potential investor audience."

Draftking Deal

DiClemente was asked if he sees Disney buying fantasy sports site Draftkings or at least investing the $250 that was initially reported. He replied, "I don't know. I need to kind of think about that a little bit more. I think the fantasy sports space is very competitive and the economics are still pretty nascent. So, I think ESPN has got really something special in terms of what they have independent of that."