Following the spin-off of Scripps Interactive Networks, the E.W. Scripps Company – which retained the newspaper and broadcast television operations – Friday declared its first quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share. That’s a yield of just over 9% based on the previous day’s closing price for the stock.
The dividend policy should not have been a surprise to investors. CEO Rich Boehne told analysts in his first quarterly conference call [LINK] that the dividend payout was expected to be approximately 50% of the company’s free cash flow. The official announcement of the payout, which amounts to 60 cents per year, was described as consistent with that stated objective.
Scripps Networks Interactive recently announced its first quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents per share. Its yield is 0.7%.
