Buckle board authorizes special dividend; raises regular quarterly dividend by 4.5 percent

The Buckle announced a special dividend of $2.77 per share and the retailer is increasing its regular quarterly dividend by 4.5 percent.

The company also made some personnel announcements Tuesday, appointing Kelli Molczyk as vice president of women's merchandising and Diane Applegate as vice president of supply chain and merchandising operations. Molczyk mostly recently served as divisional merchandise manager for the women's merchandising team. Applegate had served as director of merchandising operations since 2000.

Treasurer and Corporate Controller Thomas Heacock will take on the additional role of vice president of finance. He will also become a member of the company's executive committee.

The appointments are effective immediately.

The company's dividend is being raised to 23 cents per share, from 22 cents, and paid out on Jan. 27 to shareholders of record on Jan. 15, 2015.

The Buckle Inc., based in Kearney, Nebraska, currently runs 463 retail stores in 44 states.