Big Buyback for Lehman

Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote) boosted its dividend by 25% and said it will repurchase as many as 100 million shares.

The annual dividend will go to 60 cents a share from 48 cents. The dividend for the first quarter, 15 cents a share, is payable Feb. 21 to stockholders of record Feb. 12.

As for the buyback, Lehman said repurchases will depend on market conditions. The buyback program supersedes the previous share repurchase authorization. As of Nov. 30, Lehman had about 533.4 million shares outstanding.

Lehman was up nearly 4% at $85.40 Thursday.