What’s love worth to investors? $30.58 per share. Compared to its listing price during the pandemic, some might see that as a steal. During the stay-at-home era, dating giant Match GroupMTCH

sold the world the promise of love (and experienced significant growth). But despite its commanding leadership in the online dating industry — through apps like Tinder, OkCupid, and others — users are giving up on the apps, and so are stakeholders. So, to get investors swiping again, Match is offering cash.

• At its Investor Day on Wednesday, the organization authorized a new $1.5B share buyback — and declared a $0.19 dividend (~2.49% annualized yield), with plans to raise it in the future.
• Match also promised that it would return “at least 100% of free cash flow to its shareholders over the next three years” through share buybacks and the quarterly dividend.

Vibe check: The cash strategy is meant to distract from some of Match’s more pressing issues — for the last seven quarters, it has churned Tinder subscribers in spite of efforts to blunt its post-pandemic exodus. Some of the decline has been due to changing attitudes about dating apps, but capital providers like Starboard Value blame management and propose a sale of the company to realize its “true value.”