The company traditionally increases the dividend in the 1stquarter of the calendar year, with the announcement in mid-February and the stock going ex-dividend in mid-March.
The high yield new issuance calendar of $ 72.7 billion during the quarter was flat sequentially ($ 72.5 billion in the 4th quarter of 2017) and down year - over-year ($ 98.7 billion in the 1stquarter of 2017).