Before the opening bell on Tuesday, E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (DD ) released its fourth quarter financial results, reporting higher earnings that beat expectations.
DD's Earnings in Brief
- DD reported net income of $668 million, or 73 cents per share, up from $183 million, or 19 cents per share, last year. Excluding special items, earnings were 71 cents per share – matching analysts’ estimates.
- Sales came in at $7.4 billion, down from $7.7 billion a year ago. Analysts expected to see revenue of $7.8 billion.
- Looking ahead, the company expects to see FY2015 earnings between $4.00 and $4.20 per share. On average, analysts expect to see EPS of $4.46.
CEO Commentary
DD’s CEO Ellen J. Kullman commented: “Our 2014 results demonstrate continued progress on our strategic plan to deliver higher growth and higher value, including ongoing portfolio refinement through several strategic portfolio actions and steady progress on the planned Chemours separation, substantial cost reductions from our operational redesign and productivity initiatives, and the continued return of capital to our shareholders through $2 billion of share repurchases and an increase in the common stock dividend of 4 percent.”
DD's Dividend
The company paid its last dividend on December 12. We expect DD to declare its next quarterly dividend in the coming weeks.`
Stock Performance
Shares of DD were down $1.11, or 1.50%, during pre-market trading Tuesday.
The Bottom Line
Du Pont (D ) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.
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