Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday that it will raise its quarterly dividend by 2.0%, to 64.00 cents a share from 62.75 cents a share. Shareholders of record on Oct. 8 will be paid the new dividend rate on Nov. 1. The telecommunications company’s stock rose 0.1% in afternoon trading. Based on current stock prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 4.66%, which compares with the implied yield for the S&P 500 of 1.33%. It also keeps Verizon’s stock as the third highest yielding within the Dow Jones Industrial Average , below Chevron Corp. at 5.45% and International Business Machines Corp. at 4.71%, and just ahead of Dow Inc. at 4.45%.
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