The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors has declared the conglomerate’s first cash dividend since 2019, a $0.30 per share payment that will be dispersed to shareholders early next year.
The Walt Disney Company Declares First Dividend Since 2019
The Walt Disney Company declared the cash dividend on November 30, announcing it in a press release published on their official website:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) Board of Directors today announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share in respect of the second half of fiscal year 2023, payable January 10, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 11, 2023.
The Walt Disney Company
A cash dividend is defined by Investopedia as “the distribution of funds or money paid to stockholders generally as part of the corporation’s current earnings or accumulated profits.” In simplest terms: investors who own shares of The Walt Disney Company will receive $0.30 per every share they own on January 10, 2024. The conglomerate announced that the dividend is “in respect of the second half of the fiscal year 2023,” indicating that the $0.30 dividend was calculated from only half of the year’s profits.
The Walt Disney Company, per StreetInsider.com, previously declared two dividends each year, the first typically coming in June and the second coming in late November. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted them to stop issuing dividends, as the last payout declared prior to Thursday’s announcement was in December 2019. The Walt Disney Company shared their intentions to reinstate dividends in February of this year.
The dividend yield, or “the percentage of a company’s share price that it pays out in dividends,” per Investopedia, of The Walt Disney Company’s recent declaration is 1.3%, roughly in line with the 1.2% yield of their 2019 dividends. The latest dividend is of a significantly lower price, however; each of the company’s declared dividends in 2019 were for $0.88.
Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board of The Walt Disney Company, stated the following regarding the new dividend:
This has been a year of important progress for The Walt Disney Company, defined by a strategic restructuring and a renewed focus on long-term growth. As Disney moves forward with its key strategic objectives, we are pleased to declare a dividend for our shareholders while we continue to invest in the company’s future and prioritize meaningful value creation.
Mark Parker, Chairman of the Board
The Walt Disney Company had an annual revenue of $88.9 billion in their Fiscal Year 2023, according to the press release. The company’s stock is currently trading at $92.69 per share, a significant rebound from the $78.76 nine-year low it was trading at in early October but a far cry from the over $100 per share price it hit at roughly this time last year. The stock price soared in November of 2022 following the return of Bob Iger as the company’s CEO.
Check out some of our other recent coverage about The Walt Disney Company:
- Disney Turns Down Nelson Peltz’s Request for Board Seats, Both Release Statements
- Elon Musk Tells Disney CEO Bob Iger ‘Go F*** Yourself’ Amid Advertising Pause
- Iger Less Optimistic About Disney Business in China, Offered to Sit Down with DeSantis but Governor Declined
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