Photograph by Richard Ricciardi
BlackRock (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, and Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), real-estate investment trust, announced dividend increases this week.
BlackRock, whose assets under management totaled nearly $6 trillion as of Dec. 31, on Wednesday announced a quarterly dividend of $3.30 a share, up from $3.13, for an increase of 5%.
Volatile markets led to a shrinkage of BlackRock's assets, which totaled $6.3 trillion a year earlier. That pressured revenues and earnings. The company earned $26.58 a diluted share in 2018, down from $30.12 in 2017.
On a positive note, the New York-based company reported net inflows of $124 billion in 2018, helped by its iShares exchange-traded-fund franchise, and it returned $3.6 billion of capital to shareholders last year.
The stock, which is down about 25% over the past 12 months amid volatile equity markets, was recently yielding 3.1%.
Vornado, a big player in office and retail properties in Manhattan, on Wednesday declared a quarterly disbursement of 66 cents a share, up three cents. That's an increase of nearly 5%.
The company owns a lot of commercial real estate around Penn Station in Manhattan as well as in other parts of the city.
Its stock was recently yielding around 4%. For more on Vornado and the industry, see "Office REITs at Bargain Prices" (Jan. 18).
At a recent $65 and change, the stock is down by about 8% over the past year.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at lawrence.strauss@barrons.com
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
