Marriott Vacation To Boost Dividend 17%

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp. said Friday that it will raise its quarterly dividend by 17% to 35 cents a share from 30 cents a share. The vacation ownership company's new dividend will be payable Jan. 4, 2017 to shareholders of record on Dec. 22. Based on Thursday's stock closing price of $86.42, new annual dividend rate of $1.40 a share implies a dividend yield of 1.62%, compared with the aggregate S&P 500 dividend yield of 2.07%, according to FactSet. "The over 15 percent increase in our dividend reflects our continued commitment to return capital to shareholders through a balanced approach of quarterly dividends and opportunistically buying back shares," said Chief Executive Stephen Weisz. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 52% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.9%.