Why Eli Lilly Stock Jumped by 4% Today
The largest pharmaceutical company in the world by market cap, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), is continuing to share some of its profits with shareholders. The company has kept its quarterly dividend payments flowing, and declared a new distribution on Monday. Investors like getting cash from their companies, and this upcoming payment is generous compared to what it was only a few months ago.
That morning, Eli Lilly announced that its next quarterly dividend would match its predecessor at $1.30 per share. This is to be paid on June 10 to stockholders of record as of May 16.
Late last year, the pharmaceutical giant enacted a dividend raise, hiking the payout to the present level from $1.13 per share for a 15% increase. The company's share price has accelerated faster than that, however, so the dividend yield on the enhanced amount is only 0.7%; this is not only below the average of 1.3% for S&P 500 index stocks, but it's eclipsed by rivals in the pharmaceutical sector.
Source Fool.com
