McDonald’s and A.O. Smith Declare Dividend Increases

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McDonald’s

and

A.O. Smith

declared dividend increases this week in an otherwise quiet stretch on that front for large U.S. companies.

McDonald’s (ticker: MCD) plans to raise its quarterly dividend to $1.52 a share, up 10% from $1.38. The annualized dividend will be $6.08 a share.

The fast-food giant’s stock was down about 6% this year through the close on Oct. 13, dividends included, compared with minus 22% for the

S&P 500
.
The stock yields 2.2%.

A.O. Smith (AOS) declared a quarterly dividend of 30 cents a share, up from 28 cents. That’s an increase of 7%. That annualized dividend will rise to $1.20 a share.

The company’s products include building products such as boilers and water-heating systems.

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A.O. Smith stock is down about 42% this year, dividends included. It yields 2.5%.

Elsewhere, companies that said this week that they will maintain dividends at current levels include retailer

Costco Wholesale

(COST) at 90 cents a share, animal-health company

Zoetis

(ZTS) at 32.5 cents a share, insurance company

MetLife

(MET) at 50 cents a share, and

Domino’s Pizza

(

DPZ

) at $1.10 a share. Those are all on a quarterly basis.

Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at lawrence.strauss@barrons.com