What is Dividend
Definition: Dividend refers to a reward, cash or otherwise, that a company gives to its shareholders. Dividends can be issued in various forms, such as cash payment, stocks or any other form. A company¡¯s dividend is decided by its board of directors and it requires the shareholders¡¯ approval. However, it is not obligatory for a company to pay dividend. Dividend is usually a part of the profit that the company shares with its shareholders.
Description: After paying its creditors, a company can use part or whole of the residual profits to reward its shareholders as dividends. However, when firms face cash shortage or when it needs cash for reinvestments, it can also skip paying dividends. When a company announces dividend, it also fixes a record date and all shareholders who are registered as of that date become eligible to get dividend payout in proportion to their shareholding. The company usually mails the cheques to shareholders within in a week or so. Stocks are normally bought or sold with dividend until two business days ahead of the record date and then they turn ex-dividend. A recent study found that dividend-paying firms in India fell from 24 per cent in 2001 to almost 16 per cent in 2009 before rising to 19 per cent in 2010.
In the US, some of the companies like Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Oracle do not pay dividends and reinvest their total profit in the business itself. Dividend payment usually does not affect the fundamental value of a company¡¯s share price. Companies with high growth rate and at an early stage of their ventures rarely pay dividends as they prefer to reinvest most of their profit to help sustain the higher growth and expansion. On the other hand, established companies try to offer regular dividends to reward loyal investors.
Description: After paying its creditors, a company can use part or whole of the residual profits to reward its shareholders as dividends. However, when firms face cash shortage or when it needs cash for reinvestments, it can also skip paying dividends. When a company announces dividend, it also fixes a record date and all shareholders who are registered as of that date become eligible to get dividend payout in proportion to their shareholding. The company usually mails the cheques to shareholders within in a week or so. Stocks are normally bought or sold with dividend until two business days ahead of the record date and then they turn ex-dividend. A recent study found that dividend-paying firms in India fell from 24 per cent in 2001 to almost 16 per cent in 2009 before rising to 19 per cent in 2010.
In the US, some of the companies like Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Oracle do not pay dividends and reinvest their total profit in the business itself. Dividend payment usually does not affect the fundamental value of a company¡¯s share price. Companies with high growth rate and at an early stage of their ventures rarely pay dividends as they prefer to reinvest most of their profit to help sustain the higher growth and expansion. On the other hand, established companies try to offer regular dividends to reward loyal investors.
