How much does Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) pay in dividends? The short answer is that the latest dividend paid by the House of Mouse was $0.45 per share. This was paid to shareholders of record as of July 8, 2024 on July 25, 2024. If you owned 100 shares of Disney stock, you would have received a $45 dividend payment.
However, there's more to the story. For one thing, Disney is a rare example of a stock that pays a semi-annual (twice-a-year) dividend rather than a quarterly one. And second, Disney suspended its dividend in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and only resumed its payments in January 2024.
Disney's recent dividend history
As mentioned, Disney resumed its dividend after a four-year pause in January 2024. The company declared a dividend of $0.30 per share, which was paid to shareholders on Jan. 10. The latest (July) dividend represents a 50% increase over the previous payment amount.
However, even the $0.45 dividend isn't close to where it was before the pandemic-driven pause. The last semi-annual dividend paid by Disney prior to the pandemic was $0.88 in January 2020. Since switching from annual to semi-annual dividends in 2015, Disney had raised its payout four times before the pause. In short, the current dividend is about 49% lower than the pre-pandemic level.
Will Disney's dividend continue to grow?
Not only is Disney's dividend far below its pre-COVID level, but it represents an annualized yield of just over 1%, based on the current stock price.
While we don't know what Disney's future plans are, we do know that increasing shareholder returns is a big focus for management -- and that includes both dividends and stock buybacks. With Disney's profitability clearly heading in the right direction, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the dividend increase further in the near future.
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Matt Frankel has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
