DETROIT — Ford Motor will reinstate its common dividend beginning within the fourth quarter, greater than a 12 months and a half after suspending the payments in the course of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ford mentioned the fourth-quarter dividend of 10 cents per share on excellent widespread and Class B inventory can be paid on Dec. 1 to shareholders on the shut of enterprise Nov. 19. The corporate introduced the dividend Wednesday when it released its third-quarter earnings, which beat Wall Street’s expectations.
Ford shares jumped by about 5% throughout after-hours buying and selling. The inventory closed Wednesday down by 2.7% to $15.51 a share.
“The energy of the enterprise provides us the arrogance to reinstate the dividend at this level,” CFO John Lawler instructed reporters Wednesday throughout a name.
Lawler mentioned the corporate is just not capital-constrained and is assured it might probably finance an aggressive turnaround plan, which it calls Ford+. The plan consists of investing billions in electrical and autonomous autos in addition to paying the dividend.
The quarterly value of the dividend can be about $400 million, based on Lawler.
Ford was fast to chop the dividend to shore up money because the coronavirus pandemic brought on the automaker to shutter crops and dealerships final 12 months to cease the unfold of Covid.
General Motors, which minimize its dividend a month after Ford, has not reinstated its dividend.
