3M Co. authorized a stock buyback program of as much as $7.5 billion and increased the quarterly dividend by 7.6 percent.
The new dividend of 63.5 cents a share is payable on March 12 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 15, the St. Paul, Minnesota-based company said today in a statement. The payout had been set at 59 cents.
3M gave no end date for the stock-repurchase program, which replaces an existing $7 billion plan from 2011. Jacqueline Berry, a 3M spokeswoman, said she couldn’t say immediately how many shares had been bought back under the previous program.
“These actions reflect both our confidence in 3M’s future and our commitment to return significant cash to our shareholders,” Chief Executive Officer Inge Thulin said in the statement.
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