Hilton Worldwide Suspending Dividend and Share Buybacks; CEO Foregoing 2020 Salary

Similar to other large companies, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (NYSE: HLT) has announced a new set of drastic financial defense measures it is taking in the face of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak.

The storied hotel operator is cutting what it considers to be "non-essential" costs. These include capital expenditures, in addition to the complete suspension of the company's buyback program and its dividend payouts.

At the beginning of March, Hilton actually expanded its share repurchase program by $2 billion, bringing the total authorization to roughly $2.3 billion. Its latest declared dividend was $0.15 per share, which was to have been paid on or before next Tuesday, March 31. At the latest closing stock price, that dividend would have yielded just under 0.9%.

Source Fool.com