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Add PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) and Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) to the growing list of companies trying to beat the fiscal cliff by offering a special dividend this month.
Expedia, an online travel company, will pay shareholders a special dividend of 52 cents per share on December 28 – a payment that comes in addition to the company’s regular quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share.
PetSmart’s dividend isn’t necessarily “special” – it’s their regular fourth-quarter payout, but bumped up from its usual February time slot to avoid the possibility of higher income taxes after January 1.
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is taking it one step further. The computer technology giant is accelerating payment of its second-, third- and fourth-quarter 2013 payments to issue one giant special dividend on December 21 to shareholders of record as of this Friday.
The latest special dividend payers join the likes of Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) and Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) in trying to kick money back to shareholders before the impending fiscal cliff hikes dividend taxes next year.
With three weeks left until the end of the year and fiscal cliff negotiations seemingly going nowhere, look for more big-name companies to issue special dividends before the calendar turns to 2013.