Boeing sets new $20 billion buyback plan, raises dividends

By Julie Johnsson / Bloomberg

Boeing Co. directors authorized a record $20 billion share buyback program and boosted the company’s dividend 20 percent — a sign the planemaker doesn’t intend to stop showering cash on investors any time soon.

Key insights:

• The company’s share price has more than doubled since it embarked on a strategy of rewarding shareholders as production of the marquee 787 Dreamliner stabilized six years ago. Over that time, Boeing has repurchased 230 million of its shares and hoisted its dividend 325 percent.

• Boeing said it repurchased $9 billion in shares this year. By comparison, analysts have speculated that the manufacturer would need to spend about $10 billion to develop a new midrange plane, which would be its first all-new jetliner since the 787.

• Boeing said it expects buybacks under the new plan to begin in January and be made over the next 24 months.

Market reaction:

• Boeing rose 1.3 percent to $320.20 after the close of regular trading in New York. The shares climbed 7.2 percent this year through Monday, compared with a 14 percent decline in a Standard & Poor’s index of U.S. industrial companies.