Late Monday drug giant Pfizer (PFE) announced a 21 percent increase in its annual dividend, to $1.16 per share. With the stock trading at $25 and change, the new current yield on the stock is a whopping 4.5 percent. I speculated about two weeks ago that investors should expect a bump in the payout of 15 percent, so the magnitude of this increase is a positive surprise from my perspective.
The share price of PFE is unchanged on this news, but is it indeed an immaterial event? I believe value investors will add to positions in light of the more than 20 percent boost to the dividend. Pfizer’s yield should not be equal to that of long-term treasury bonds, and the market will likely correct this.
Assuming investors’ demand for PFE increases, I would expect the yield to fall back toward the 4 percent level. This would put the shares of Pfizer at $29 each, about 12 percent above current levels.
Full Disclosure: Peridot owns shares of Pfizer
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