Walgreens Boots Alliance delivers 342nd straight dividend payout
Walgreens Boots Alliance on Wednesday declared a regular quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share, an increase of 6.7% over the year-ago period.
Walgreens Boots Alliance and its predecessor company, Walgreens, have paid a dividend in 342 straight quarters (more than 85 years) and have raised that dividend for 42 consecutive years.
The dividend is payable June 12, 2018 to stockholders of record as of May 18, 2018.
Maintaining the kind of growth momentum that enables dividend payouts is a key focus for Walgreens Boots Alliance, executives shared in March, across both the back bench and the front-end.
“Our growth strategy of increasing and consolidating volume, differentiating ourselves through value and quality of service, and controlling costs is bearing fruit across our businesses,” Stefano Pessina, executive vice chairman and CEO Walgreens Boots Alliance, said. “This is reflected in another good set of financial results in which we delivered the highest sales growth in eight quarters, as well as strong cash generation and record U.S. pharmacy market share. We expect to continue to grow, in part through the recent acquisition of stores from Rite Aid, and today we are raising our fiscal 2018 guidance.”
Walgreens executives in March also addressed front-end growth initiatives. Walgreens' differentiated beauty offering has been rolled out to approximately 2,900 locations to date, and to help deliver a differentiated health offering, the Deerfield, Ill.-based retailer plans to bring to bear its optical, hearing care and lab testing services as part of a new pilot store initiative. “The pilot stores will also provide a platform for the existing initiatives we have already introduced such as our strategic partnership with FedEx,” Alex Gourlay, co-COO Walgreens Boots Alliance, told analysts. “The development of the new store formats and the iterative evolution as we learn more from their performance in the market also provides us with the opportunity to develop a wider range of services and a different value proposition.”
Walgreens Boots Alliance and its predecessor company, Walgreens, have paid a dividend in 342 straight quarters (more than 85 years) and have raised that dividend for 42 consecutive years.
The dividend is payable June 12, 2018 to stockholders of record as of May 18, 2018.
Maintaining the kind of growth momentum that enables dividend payouts is a key focus for Walgreens Boots Alliance, executives shared in March, across both the back bench and the front-end.
“Our growth strategy of increasing and consolidating volume, differentiating ourselves through value and quality of service, and controlling costs is bearing fruit across our businesses,” Stefano Pessina, executive vice chairman and CEO Walgreens Boots Alliance, said. “This is reflected in another good set of financial results in which we delivered the highest sales growth in eight quarters, as well as strong cash generation and record U.S. pharmacy market share. We expect to continue to grow, in part through the recent acquisition of stores from Rite Aid, and today we are raising our fiscal 2018 guidance.”
Walgreens executives in March also addressed front-end growth initiatives. Walgreens' differentiated beauty offering has been rolled out to approximately 2,900 locations to date, and to help deliver a differentiated health offering, the Deerfield, Ill.-based retailer plans to bring to bear its optical, hearing care and lab testing services as part of a new pilot store initiative. “The pilot stores will also provide a platform for the existing initiatives we have already introduced such as our strategic partnership with FedEx,” Alex Gourlay, co-COO Walgreens Boots Alliance, told analysts. “The development of the new store formats and the iterative evolution as we learn more from their performance in the market also provides us with the opportunity to develop a wider range of services and a different value proposition.”