McDonald’s stock surged to an all-time high Thursday after the fast-food chain announced the largest dividend increase in its history and pledged to return more money to shareholders than Wall Street expected.
The dollar’s record low against the euro also boosted McDonald’s, which has more than 6,000 restaurants in Europe.
Shares in the company rose $3.27, or 6.4%, to $54.47 in afternoon trading after reaching a new high-water mark of $54.68.
The increase came a day after McDonald’s raised its annual dividend by 50 cents a share to $1.50 on Wednesday afternoon and said it expects to return $15 billion to $17 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks between 2007 and 2009.
Several brokerages upgraded their outlook for McDonald’s shares.
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