Walgreen Raises Dividend by 14.5%

Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) raised its quarterly dividend by 14.5% to 31.5 cents a share Wednesday, just two weeks after reporting weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and sales and pledging to improve front-end traffic at its retail stores.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based pharmacy chain lifted the dividend from 27.5 cents, increasing its annual rate to $1.26 from $1.10 previously. The new quarterly dividend is payable Sept. 12 to shareholders of record on Aug. 20.

Walgreen said it has paid a dividend in 323 straight quarters, or more than 80 consecutive years, and raised the payout every year for the last 38.

Shares of Walgreen ticked narrowly higher after hours, after closing up about 3% to $47.85 on Wednesday. Walgreen late in June said its third-quarter profit grew 16% but missed Wall Street expectations.