This study empirically examines the impact of media-reported dividend announcements on the stock returns of US public firms receiving a COVID-19-related one-time government grant. While COVID-19 continued devastating the economy, public firm borrowers that decided to pay out dividends while using government support, exhibited a negative Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) of −5.3% around the announcement day. In contrast, investors’ reaction to firms announcing discontinuation of dividend payments while receiving COVID-19 grants, results in a much milder CAR of ≈ −1.2%. Firm size, leverage, cash/assets, ESG score, and the media coverage proxy influence significantly the returns during the period.
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