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PEORIA, Ill. – In support of its long-term commitment to maximizing stockholder value and return, Caterpillar today announced a two-for-one stock split and increased the quarterly dividend rate 22 percent from 41 cents to 50 cents per share pre-split. On a split-adjusted basis, the 4.5-cents-per-share increase is the largest in the company's 80-year history.
The stock split shares will be distributed on July 13 to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 22, 2005. The company's previously announced share repurchase program goal to reduce outstanding shares to 320,000,000 will be adjusted for the split to reflect an adjusted goal of 640,000,000 shares outstanding by October 2008.
The new quarterly dividend rate of 25 cents per share of common stock is payable August 19, 2005, to stockholders of record at the close of business July 22, 2005. The dividend increase is the third in the past two years and the 12th since 1993. Including today's announcements, on a split-adjusted basis, Caterpillar has increased its cash dividend more than 13-fold since 1993.
"Caterpillar continues to deliver remarkable results, and today's announcement reflects the Board of Directors' confidence that we haven't yet reached our full potential," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens. “We're aggressively pursuing continuous improvement as we leverage our leadership position, strong cash flow and growth strategies around the world to enhance the value customers and stockholders realize from an investment in Caterpillar."
