Raymond James raises dividend to boost yield above 1.7%, sets new $1.5 billion stock buyback program

Shares of Raymond James Financial Inc.
RJF,
+1.35%
tacked on 0.3% in Thursday’s after-hours session, after the regional bank raised its quarterly dividend by 7% and set a $1.5 billion stock repurchase program. Shareholders of record on Jan. 2 will acquire the new dividend of 45 cents a share, up from 42 cents a share, on Jan. 16. Based on Thursday’s stock closing price of $105.15, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 1.71%, compared with the yield on the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF
KRE,
+0.20%
of 3.42% and the implied yield on the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.38%
of 1.53%. The new stock repurchase program, which represents about 6.8% of the bank’s market capitalization of $21.94 billion, replaces the previous has edged up 0.2% over the past three months through Thursday, while the regional bank ETF has tacked on 1.7% and the S&P 500 has gained 1.2%.