Canadian Pacific Railway raising quarterly dividend by 15.5 per cent

CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is raising its quarterly dividend by 15.5 per cent.

The railway says it will now make a regular payment to shareholders of 65 cents per share, up from 56.25 cents per share.

Based on the company’s closing share price of $238.76 on Wednesday it will have an annual yield of about 1.09 per cent.

Canadian Pacific also said that it bought back about 4.4 million of its shares at a weighted average price of $214.31 in May.

By buying back its stock, a company spreads its profits over fewer shares.

That increases its return on equity and earnings per share, two key ratios used to determine a company’s financial health and investment rating.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CP)