O'Reilly Automotive announces stock split

Each shareholder entitled to the dividend will receive one additional share of common stock for each share of common stock held. Company officials anticipate the additional shares will be available to shareholders around June 15.

Company shareholders gave their approval to the split at the 2005 annual meeting held May 3. Under the agreement, the company’s articles of incorporation will be amended to increase the number of authorized shares from 90 million to 250 million.

O’Reilly Chief Financial Officer Jim Batten said the company felt it was the right time for a split.

“It’s really based on the trading price of our stock. We’ve been trading in the mid-$50s recently and it seemed like a good point to have a split,” he said. “By doing that it makes the stock a little more affordable to individuals. Someone can say ‘I can afford a mid-$20 stock more than a mid-$50 stock.’”

He added that the split also can help reach out to more future shareholders by making more shares available.

“It increases the total number of shares, and you might be able to widen the distribution of your stock,” Batten said. “If you go from 100 (shares) to 200, you might decide to sell 50, and the company can broaden its holdings that way.”

Record quarter

The split announcement comes on the heels of record earnings for the first quarter of 2005. Earnings for the quarter totaled 59 cents per diluted share, up from 49 cents during the same period in 2004.

Shares of O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) closed the trading day May 25 at $56.62 per share.