Whole Foods Market, Inc. (Nasdaq: WFMI – News) yesterday announced that its Board of Directors raised its quarterly dividend from $0.19 to $0.25 per share. In November 2004 the Company announced that its Board of Directors had approved a 27% increase in the Company’s quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.19 per share. On January 17, 2005, the Company paid approximately $12 million to shareholders in quarterly dividends of $0.19 per share. The first $0.25 per share dividend is payable April 25, 2005 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 15, 2005.
At the end of the first quarter, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, were approximately $261 million, and total long- term debt was approximately $101 million.
“We believe we will continue to produce strong cash flow from operations and stock option exercises and, as an EVA company, we believe in maximizing returns on capital to our shareholders,” said John Mackey, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder of Whole Foods Market. “We are fortunate that due to our increasing cash balance we are able to increase the dividend once again in such a short time frame.”
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