Dick’s Sporting Goods resumes paying dividend as stores reopen

(Reuters) – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc said on Friday it would resume paying shareholders a quarterly dividend, citing strong early sales at its stores that have reopened amid easing coronavirus-driven restrictions.

The company’s shares, which have lost more than a quarter of their value this year, rose 8% in premarket trading.

Like a big portion of corporate America, Dick’s had suspended its dividend and share buyback program earlier this year to shore up its cash reserves, as restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus brought brick-and-mortar retail to a virtual standstill.

The sporting goods retailer said it expects to have nearly all its stores reopened by the end of the month and has restored previously cut salaries for all its employees, except certain executives. The company has also returned nearly all its employees from furlough.

Dick’s said it would pay a dividend of $0.3125 per share, unchanged from last quarter, on June 30.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)