Oil-Dri Boosts Dividend

Oil-Dri (ODC Quote) expanded its share buyback and boosted its quarterly dividend.

The company said the buyback move expands its repurchase authority by 500,000 common shares, to 718,704. The company had an average of 4 million common shares outstanding during the quarter ended July 31.

Oil-Dri said a 12-cent common dividend, up from 11 cents last quarter, and a 9-cent Class B dividend, up from 8.25 cents, would be payable Dec. 9 to shareholders of record Nov. 11.

The Chicago-based cat litter giant also said it launched an animated Web site at jonnycat.com featuring its popular Jonny Cat character.

"Jonny Cat, the cat litter that works harder than any other brand to control odors longer, offers a product line that includes traditional litters, scoopable varieties, disposable KatKit trays with litter and litter box liners," Oil-Dri said. "An animated 'Swami Jonny' is an interactive feature that allows users to input questions for Jonny to answer."

On Tuesday, Oil-Dri was flat at $17.80.