How does Nordstrom’s dividend announcement impact its balance sheet?

Nordstrom, Inc., is a luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1901 as a shoe store. It would begin selling clothes more than sixty years later in 1967. Its stock ticker symbol, JWN, represents the initials of Nordstrom’s founder, John W. Nordstrom.

Nordstrom had a history of declaring dividends regularly every quarter until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. February 2020 marked the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and, like many other organizations, Nordstrom needed to conserve cash during a period of shutdowns and consumer uncertainty. After its board of directors declared a dividend on February 27, 2020, Nordstrom’s board would not declare another dividend until March 2022. The dividend announcement from March 2022 follows:

SEATTLE, March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) announced today that it is reinstating a quarterly dividend. The Company’s board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of 19 cents per share payable on April 13, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 28, 2022.

See the following tutorial video on the accounting for dividends at this link and then answer the questions following the video.

Questions

1. What is the specific date for each of the following events related to this Nordstrom dividend?
   • Date of declaration
   • Date of record
   • Date of payment
2. On what date does this dividend become an actual liability for Nordstrom?
3. Assume that there are 1 billion shares authorized, 200 million shares issued, and 175 million shares outstanding on the date of record for this dividend. What is the total dollar amount of this dividend?
4. How will this dividend impact Nordstrom’s balance sheet (assets, liabilities, and stockholders’ equity) on the date of declaration?
5. How will this dividend impact Nordstrom’s balance sheet (assets, liabilities, and stockholders’ equity) on the date of payment?