Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) will suspend its quarterly dividend in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year the casual dining company raised its quarterly dividend by 4.0 percent to $1.30 per share. Also a $3.00 per share special dividend was paid to shareholders last year.

Cracker Barrel filed an 8-k form that also included the announcement of the dividend suspension. The company states that to preserve available cash during the pandemic and in light of the uncertainties as to its duration and economic impact, the Board has determined that it is appropriate for the Company to defer payment of the dividend that was declared on March 3, 2020. Payment of such dividend, which was scheduled for May 5, 2020 to shareholders of record on April 17, 2020, will be deferred until September 2, 2020, to shareholders of record on August 14,2020. The Board has also determined to suspend all further dividend payments under the Company’s historical dividend program until further notice

Scrapping the dividend is a serious blow to investors who have been rewarded with a higher dividend each time in recent years by Cracker Barrel. In addition to raising the dividend for the 17th year in a row last year, the casual dining restaurant company has also paid a special dividend in the last four years. Like many other restaurant chains, Cracker Barrel is also hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the forced closure of restaurants, many listed companies do everything they can to save costs. Scrapping the dividend will save Cracker Barrel some $ 125 million annually.

Another major restaurant chain in the United States that recently discontinued the dividend in connection with COVID-19 is Darden Restaurants.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. operates company-owned Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores in The United States. The company provides a friendly home-away-from-home in its old country store and restaurant. Cracker Barrel also owns the fast-casual Holler and Dash restaurants. The company is headquartered in Lebanon, Tennessee and was originally founded in 1969. The company had been paying a dividend to shareholders every year since 1982 prior to the dividend suspension announced in 2020.