HSN initiates regular dividend

ST. PETERSBURG — Directors at HSN Inc. (symbol: HSNI) elected to begin paying a regular cash dividend of $0.125 to shareholders, and will also repurchase 10 million shares of its own stock. Both recent moves are firsts for the St. Petersburg firm.

Shares of HSN's common stock closed at $34.59 on Wednesday. At that price, HSN's new dividend issue will earn investors a 1.4% annual yield. With roughly 59 million shares of stock outstanding, HSN's dividend payment will cost $7 million annually to maintain.

As of June 30, HSN held $337 million in cash and equivalents in its reserves, according to the company's latest balance sheet.