COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a 24 percent increase in the company's regular annual cash dividend rate from $0.68 to $0.84 per common share. The increase will be effective starting with the first quarter dividend of $0.21 per common share, which was declared by the Board and is payable on March 23, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2017.
"Grace is committed to growing our dividend for shareholders as part of our balanced capital allocation strategy," said Fred Festa, Grace’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to the meaningful increase in our dividend that the Board approved today, during 2016 we strategically deployed cash to complete $245 million in acquisitions, made $117 million in capital investments, and returned $231 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. We remain confident in our ability to generate strong free cash flow and drive superior performance over the long term."
The declaration of any dividends falls within the discretion of the Board, taking into account such considerations as the Board may deem relevant at the time, including, without limitation, the company's financial condition, financial performance, available liquidity, and applicable legal requirements.
About Grace
Built on talent, technology, and trust, Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and engineered materials. The company’s two industry-leading business segments—Grace Catalysts Technologies and Grace Materials Technologies—provide innovative products, technologies, and services that enhance the products and processes of our customer partners around the world. Grace employs approximately 3,700 people in over 30 countries. More information about Grace is available at grace.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, that is, information related to future, not past, events. Such statements generally include the words “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “targets,” “will,” “expects,” “suggests,” “anticipates,” “outlook,” “continues,” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, expected financial positions; results of operations; cash flows; financing plans; business strategy; operating plans; capital and other expenditures; competitive positions; growth opportunities for existing products; benefits from new technology and cost reduction initiatives, plans and objectives; and markets for securities. For these statements, Grace claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Like other businesses, Grace is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause its actual results to differ materially from its projections or that could cause other forward-looking statements to prove incorrect. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation: risks related to foreign operations, especially in emerging regions; the cost and availability of raw materials and energy; the effectiveness of its research and development and growth investments; acquisitions and divestitures of assets and gains and losses from dispositions; developments affecting Grace’s outstanding indebtedness; developments affecting Grace's funded and unfunded pension obligations; its legal and environmental proceedings; uncertainties related to Grace's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the separation transaction; the inability to establish or maintain certain business relationships and relationships with customers and suppliers or the inability to retain key personnel; costs of compliance with environmental regulation; and those additional factors set forth in Grace's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are readily available on the Internet at www.sec.gov. Reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on Grace's projections and forward-looking statements, which speak only as the date thereof. Grace undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revision to the projections and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this announcement.