D.R. Horton Accelerates Four Quarterly Dividends Ahead of Cliff

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) declared an accelerated dividend of 15 cents on Friday as the largest U.S. homebuilder becomes the latest attempting to avoid a potential doubling of dividend taxes should the U.S. fail to resolve fiscal issues by the end of the year.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company said the payout is in lieu of and accelerates the payments of all quarterly dividends in calendar year 2013. It is payable on Dec. 21 to shareholders of record on Dec. 17.

D.R. Horton joins a slew of other companies that have either moved dividend payments to 2012 or declared special payments ahead of the fiscal cliff deadline that could more than double dividend taxes to 39.6% from 15% currently.

Other companies that have maneuvered their dividend strategies this month include Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Carnival (NYSE:CCL), among several others.

While D.R. Horton did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Wal-Mart, American Eagle (NYSE:AEO) and Best Buy have specifically pointed to the cliff.