Nike announces 14 percent increase in quarterly dividend

Nike's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend on the company’s outstanding Class A and Class B Common Stock of 0.32 dollar per share, on a pre-split basis, payable on January 4, 2016 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 9, 2015. The dividend represents a 14 percent increase over the previous pre-split quarterly rate of 0.28 dollar per share.

The company also approved a new four-year, 12 billion dollars program to repurchase shares of Nike’s Class B Common Stock. The company anticipates that the current 8 billion dollars share repurchase program will be completed before the end of fiscal 2016, and the new program will commence upon the completion of the current program.

“In a growing sports industry, Nike is the clear leader,” said Mark Parker, President and CEO of Nike, adding, “We are built for growth, while also staying committed to creating shareholder value over the long term. We’ve proven it time and again, having returned over 23 billion dollars to shareholders over the last 14 years through share repurchases and dividends. Moving forward, we see even greater potential for Nike as we continue to unlock new markets, new experiences and new products.”

The Board simultaneously approved a two-for-one split of both Nike’s Class A and Class B Common shares. The stock split will be in the form of a 100 percent stock dividend payable on December 23, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business December 9, 2015.