Gannett shares closed today at $14.06, up 58 cents, or 4.3% -- besting the overall market, where the S&P 500 index climbed barely 1%, according to Google Finance.
Earlier in the day, General Electric revived hopes among investors everywhere that dividends may finally be on the upswing again. The giant conglomerate said it was boosting its payout 20%, and will resume stock buybacks sooner than it had predicted, according to Bloomberg News.
Yet, recent remarks by GCI executives don't suggest a dividend increase or share repurchase are on the horizon. During a week-ago teleconference with Wall Street analysts, President Gracia Martore said the following, according to Seeking Alpha's transcript of the Q&A session; she was responding to a question about future cash-spending plans.
"We are going to be using a lot of that cash to pay down debt, although always looking out for great investment and acquisition opportunities that can move the growth trajectory of the company forward. But probably with the uncertainty as I said, probably going to pay down cash before we look at doing share repurchases or other activities like that."
Gannett's dividend wasn't discussed at all during the conference. That quarterly dividend was slashed 90%, to 4 cents a share, in February 2009 as Corporate raced to shore up the company's finances during the global economy's meltdown.
Related: Gannett's dividend history
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