Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) will continue to stick to its new quarterly dividend payout schedule, reporting it will distribute 15 cents per share to stockholders of record as of March 30, 2010.
The dividend is payable on April 30, officials at the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based medical equipment maker said. It’s the second quarterly dividend the company will pay since changing its dividend payout structure last fall.
In October, Stryker’s board of directors approved a switch from an annual dividend payment to a quarterly payout structure. The company paid out its first quarterly dividend Jan. 29.
The new program will likely result in an increased total payment for shareholders. Last year, Stryker bumped up its dividend payment by 52 percent, shelling out a 50 cents-per-share payment for the year, compared to 33 cents per share in 2008. At the current rate, the company is on pace to increase 2010 payments to about 60 cents per share, up 20 percent over last year.
With about 398 million shares of Stryker stock outstanding, the latest payout will cost the company about $60 million during the quarter.
In January Stryker reported net profits for 2009 of $1.1 billion, a 3.5 percent decline from 2008.