INITIATION: DIVIDEND POLICY FOR LQ45 INDEX COMPANIES IN INDONESIA STOCK EXCHANGE DURING PANDEMIC SITUATION
Companies that are members of the LQ45 index have good liquidity, so they have resilience against economic downturns. This study aims to identify the factors that influence the behavior of dividend policy in LQ45 companies amid uncertain conditions. The sampling technique uses purposive sampling with the criteria of companies that pay dividends in a certain period so that 11 sample companies are obtained. The analysis is quantitative using panel data regression. The results showed that the debt ratio, firm size, and exchange rate had a significant impact, while cash flow and profitability ratios had no significant effect on the dividend payout ratio. During the Covid pandemic, many companies have changed their business strategy by digitizing so that they prefer to allocate profits for business development and strive for efficiency and capital restructuring in order to survive in the pandemic era. This has caused several companies to reduce their dividend portion, because they prioritize capital structure and investment in information technology.
Keywords: dividend policy, payout ratio, LQ45, pandemic
