Covidien Raises Quarterly Dividend 23% to $0.32/Share

Covidien plc

today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a 23% increase in the quarterly dividend rate, from $0.26 per ordinary share to $0.32 per ordinary share. “This increase reflects our good performance to date in 2013 and our confidence in further growth,” said José (Joe) E. Almeida, Chairman, President and CEO. “We remain committed to using our strong cash flow to fund business expansion, while returning at least 50% of our free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. In the last twelve months, we have exceeded this target, returning over 125% of our free cash flow to shareholders. “As we have