Brown-Forman Corp. directors approved a 2-for-1 stock split for all Class A and Class B shares, payable Aug. 18 on stock of record Aug. 8. The split, which will be in the form of a dividend, is subject to shareholder approval at the July 28 annual meeting.
Directors also approval a regular quarterly cash dividend of 34 cents a share, payable July 1 on stock of record June 6. The stock has been paying 32.75 cents a share.
In another development, the board elected three fifth generation descendents of George Garvin Brown, who founded the company in 1870.
The new directors are Campbell P. Brown, a 22-year employee and president/managing director of Old Forester, the company’s founding bourbon brand; Marshall B. Farrer, an 18-year employee and vp-managing director of Global Travel Retail, and Laura L. Frazier, owner, chairman and past CEO of Bittners, a 160-year-old interior and commercial design firm who was a director of Lenox Inc., a former B-F subsidiary from 1999 to 2005.
Martin S. Brown Jr., Sandra A. Frazier, and James S. Welch Jr., a management director who is retiring as vice chairman of the company at the end of May, will leave the board.
Footnote: Barron’s said on Friday that Brown-Forman’s shares, which have averaged growth of 12.5% in the past decade, including dividend, are seen as pricey. It noted Brown-Forman faces slowing growth in a increasing crowded category (in 2010 there were over 40 flavored whiskies, and now there are some 450), and exports have been hurt by the strong dollar.
“A lot of things have to go right for shares to outperform in the next year,” Barron’s observes. “Only one or two must go wrong for them to fall 10% or more.”