Anadarko Petroleum Corp. raised its quarterly cash dividend and announced a $500 million increase to its previously announced share buyback plan.
The company declared a quarterly dividend on common shares of 25 cents per share, an increase of 500% from the previous quarter's payout of 5 cents per share. The dividend is payable March 28 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 14.
Anadarko's board authorized the repurchase of an additional $500 million of shares, increasing the size of the total program to $3 billion from $2.5 billion. The authorization will extend through the end of 2018. The company, which has repurchased $1.6 billion of shares as of Feb. 5, will buy shares from time to time in the open market or private transactions, depending on market conditions.
The company also said it plans to reduce its outstanding debt by retiring at par more than $1 billion of debt maturing in 2018 and 2019.
