Per Share Dividend to Increase from $1.86 to $2.05 on an Annual Basis
HOUSTON -- (Business Wire)
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) today announced that its Board of
Directors has approved a 10.2% increase in the planned quarterly
dividend rate for 2019, from $0.465 to $0.5125 per share. On an annual
basis, the per share dividend increases from $1.86 to $2.05. This marks
the sixteenth consecutive year that the Company has increased its
planned quarterly dividend.
The Company also received authorization from its Board of Directors to
repurchase $1.5 billion of the Company’s common stock. This new
authorization is effective immediately and supersedes the $1.25 billion
authorization announced in 2017, under which the Company had
repurchased approximately $1 billion of its common stock.
“In 2018 we expect to generate strong free cash flow and return
approximately 90% of that cash to our shareholders through dividends and
share repurchases,” said Jim Fish, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Waste Management, Inc. Our expected free cash flow growth, together
with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, supports our
decision to substantially increase our dividend rate and request a new
share repurchase authorization. The planned $0.19 per share annual
increase in our dividend is the highest that we have seen in fifteen
years and demonstrates our confidence in the strength of the free cash
flow generation of our business.” (a)
Waste Management’s Board of Directors must declare each future quarterly
dividend prior to payment. The Board of Directors intends to declare the
first quarter 2019 dividend in February, at which time the Company will
announce the record and payment dates for this dividend. It is expected
that the first increased dividend will be paid in March of 2019.
Future share repurchases will be made at the discretion of management
and will depend on various relevant factors, including the Company’s net
earnings, financial condition, and cash required for future business
plans, growth, and acquisitions.
The Company, from time to time, provides estimates of financial and
other data, comments on expectations relating to future periods and
makes statements of opinion, view or belief about current and future
events. This press release contains such forward-looking statements,
including statements regarding the amount, declaration, timing and
payment of dividends in 2019, future share repurchases, and future
business performance and free cash flow. You should view these
statements with caution. They are based on the facts and circumstances
known to the Company as of the date the statements are made. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to be materially different from those set
forth in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to,
commodity price fluctuations; increased competition; pricing actions;
failure to implement our optimization and growth initiatives and overall
business strategy; environmental and other regulations; disposal
alternatives and waste diversion; declining waste volumes; failure to
develop and protect new technology; significant environmental or other
incidents resulting in liabilities and brand damage; weakness in
economic conditions; failure to obtain and maintain necessary permits;
labor disruptions; impairment charges; and negative outcomes of
litigation or governmental proceedings. Please also see the Company’s
filings with the SEC, including Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s most
recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional information
regarding these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our
business. The Company assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, including financial estimates and forecasts,
whether as a result of future events, circumstances or developments or
otherwise.
(a) |
| Free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure. Free cash flow is not
intended to replace “Net cash provided by operating activities,”
which is the most comparable U.S. GAAP measure. The Company
defines free cash flow as net cash provided by operating
activities, less capital expenditures, plus proceeds from
divestitures of business (net of cash divested) and other sales of
assets. This definition of may not be comparable to similarly
titled measures presented by other companies. |
| |
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ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of
comprehensive waste management environmental services in North America.
Through its subsidiaries, the Company provides collection, transfer,
disposal services, and recycling and resource recovery. It is also a
leading developer, operator and owner of landfill gas-to-energy
facilities in the United States. The Company’s customers include
residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout
North America. To learn more information about Waste Management, visit www.wm.com
or www.thinkgreen.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181213005929/en/
Contacts:
Waste Management
Web site
www.wm.com
Analysts
Ed Egl
713.265.1656
eegl@wm.com
Media
Tiffiany Moehring
720.346.5372
tmoehrin@wm.com
Source: Waste Management
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