Lorillard declares quarterly dividend

Lorillard’s board of directors has approved a 12 per cent increase in the quarterly dividend on its common stock from $0.55 per share to $0.615 per share.

The dividend is payable on March 10 to stockholders of record as of February 28.

‘This step marks the sixth dividend increase and a doubling of the quarterly dividend rate since Lorillard became an independent publicly traded company in June 2008,’ the company said in announcing the dividend.

“We are very pleased to take this action as it underscores our confidence in Lorillard’s business model and our commitment of returning cash to our shareholders as evidenced by our targeted dividend payout ratio of 70-75 per cent of earnings as well as our current $1 billion share repurchase program,” said executive vice president and CFO, David H. Taylor.