Freddie Mac cuts dividend

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Freddie Mac (FRE.N), the second biggest provider of money for U.S. home loans, on Tuesday said it cut its dividend by half and will sell $6 billion of preferred stock to buoy capital levels.

The McLean, Virginia-based company's board on Monday approved a quarterly common stock dividend of 25 cents per share, a 50 percent drop from the previous quarter "as part of the company's previously stated strategy of managing to its 30 percent mandatory capital surplus, it said in a statement.

(Reporting by Al Yoon)