CVS To Raise Its Dividend By 18% Next Year, Affirms Profit Outlook

CVS Health Corp. said it will raise its annual dividend by 18% in 2017, to $2.00 a share from $1.70 a share. Based on Wednesday's closing price for the drugstore chain's stock of $78.96, the new dividend implies a dividend yield of 2.53%, compared with the aggregate dividend yield for the S&P 500 of 2.08%, according to FactSet. CVS also said at its analyst day that it affirmed its adjusted earnings-per-share outlooks for 2016 and 2017, that it expects to deliver cost savings of $700 million to $750 million across its businesses by 2021 and that it has more than $18 billion authorized for share repurchases over the next few years. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has tumbled 19% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 10%.