Boeing Co., the American aircraft manufacturer, announced on late Monday that it plans to increase its dividend payout by 20% to $2.055 a share and replace its existing share repurchase program with a newly authorized $20 billion share repurchase program, up from $18 billion program the board of directors approved in December 2017.
The company has already repurchased shares worth $9 billion since last December, under the existing repurchase plan.
With this latest increase in dividend payout, Boeing says it has increased its dividend nearly 325% over the past six years and repurchased more than 230 million shares over the same time period.
Boeing shares surged nearly 2% to $322 in the after-hours trade, after Boeing’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg made the news public.