Delta Shares Climb 2% After Company Outlines Plan To Return $6 Billion To Shareholders

Delta Air Lines Inc. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company unveiled a plan to return $6 billion to shareholders through 2017. The airline said it will buy back $5 billion of stock, and raise its quarterly dividend by 50% to 13.5 cents a share, beginning in the September 2015 quarter. The company said it's on track to complete the last $725 million of its previous $2 billion buyback program. Delta said it ended the March quarter with $7.4 billion of adjusted net debt, down $2 billion since the end of 2015. The company is targeting net debt of $4 billion by the end of 2017, which it expects will result in annual net interest costs of $200 million. Shares are down 6.3% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 2%.