Marriott International Inc (MAR)

[Bear51]

Marriott International Declares Cash Dividend; Announces Increase In Stock Buyback Authorization

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) today announced that its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of seventeen cents ($0.17) per share of common stock.  The dividend is payable on March 28, 2014 to shareholders of record on February 28, 2014.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130531/PH23900LOGO) ;

Marriott also announced that its board has increased the authorization to repurchase the Company's Class A common stock by an additional 25 million shares, for a total of approximately 34.4 million shares currently authorized for repurchase.  Shares may be purchased in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

In 2013, the company repurchased 20 million shares for $829 million, including 4.4 million shares for $200 million in the fourth quarter.  Combined with cash dividends of $196 million paid in 2013, the company returned over $1 billion in cash to shareholders.  To date in 2014, Marriott has repurchased nearly 4.9 million shares for approximately $238 million.