IBM boosts dividend, stock buyback

04/24/2007

BOSTON (Reuters) - IBM said on Tuesday it will raise its quarterly dividend by a third and its share buyback program by $15 billion, sending its shares up more than 4 percent.

As a result of the higher share buyback, 2007 earnings per share growth -- excluding any gain from the recently announced sale of its printer business -- could be 12 to 14 percent, which is one to three points more than its previous estimates, IBM said.

The board of International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer services company, declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 40 cents a share, payable June 9, up from 30 cents per share in the prior quarter.

READ MORE: Click HERE