Walgreens Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend
DEERFIELD, Ill., Oct. 10, 2007 The board of directors of Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) declared a regular quarterly dividend of 9.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 12, 2007, to shareholders of record Nov. 12, 2007.
Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, last week reported sales for the 2007 fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007, of $53.8 billion, up 13.4 percent from a year earlier. Net earnings for the year were up 16.6 percent from a year ago to a record $2.04 billion.
Walgreens operates 6,014 drugstores in 48 states and Puerto Rico, including 77 Happy Harry's stores in Delaware and surrounding states. The company plans to open 550 new drugstores in fiscal 2008, with a net increase of more than 475 stores after relocations and closings.
Walgreens is expanding its patient-first health care services beyond traditional pharmacy through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, and Take Care Health Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary that manages convenient care clinics inside drugstores. Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefit manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc. and Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy Inc.
(Please note: Stock exchanges typically set the ex-dividend date two business days before the shareholder-of-record date. This means if you purchase stock on the ex-dividend date or after, you will not receive the next dividend payment. If you purchase before the ex-dividend date, you will receive the dividend.)
