DuPont Beats Earnings Expectations, Raises Quarterly Dividend

DuPont (DD) beats earnings expectations as it finds itself in the middle of a proxy war. DuPont reported earnings of $1.34 a share versus expectations of $1.31. The company, like many multinational companies, is seeing a negative impact of the strong U.S. dollar DuPont also says its sees some near term negative impact in agriculture and its chemical business. DuPont is in the middle of proxy war with activist investors led by Trian Partner, which owned about 24 million shares as of February. Trian wants to break up the chemical giant and replace 4 board members with what is calls more independent candidates with experience and skills critical to DuPont.