Costco will pay a $7 a share special dividend before year end as it looks to return cash to shareholders in advance of what is expected to be a 2013 tax increase on dividend payments.
The total payout will amount to about $3 billion and is extraordinarily generous. Especially considering Costco’s net cash provided by operating activities for its fiscal year ended September 2, was only slightly more than $3 billion and cash, cash equivalents and short term investments totaled $4.854 billion.
