Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly base cash dividend of $0.18 per share on the common stock of the company, reflecting a 5.9 percent increase from the prior quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share.
The dividend is payable in cash on March 18, 2022, to holders of record of such common stock as of the close of business on March 4, 2022.
“We’re excited to announce this increase in our quarterly dividend, which reflects our commitment to grow our sustainable base dividend by 5 percent annually through 2025,” said Devin Stockfish, president and chief executive officer. “We continue to believe our dividend framework, combined with opportunistic share repurchase, will enhance our ability to drive long-term shareholder value by returning meaningful amounts of cash back to shareholders across a variety of market conditions.”
In fourth quarter 2020, Weyerhaeuser implemented a “base plus variable supplemental” dividend framework. Under this framework, the company expects to supplement its quarterly base cash dividend, as appropriate, with an additional return of cash to achieve a targeted total annual return to shareholders of 75 to 80 percent of annual Adjusted Funds Available for Distribution (Adjusted FAD). As demonstrated in 2021, the company has the flexibility in its capital allocation framework to return this additional cash either in the form of a supplemental dividend, which will, in general, be declared and paid annually in the first quarter based on prior year financial results, or through a combination of supplemental dividend and opportunistic share repurchase. On a combined basis, including dividends and share repurchase, the company is returning more than $2 billion of cash, or 79 percent of 2021 Adjusted FAD, to shareholders based on 2021 results.
Adjusted FAD, a non-GAAP measure, is defined by Weyerhaeuser as net cash from operations adjusted for capital expenditures and significant non-recurring items.