How does divident on shares work???

Question

Ok read in the news a certain company is going to be posting its annual dividends for shares holders next month can I then just buy their shares and get the dividend and then sell later on, or is it for those share holders which have been with the company for a long time.

Answer 1

Eric is right.

The ex-date will be posted in the key statistics area in yahoo finance for a given stock.

To put this simply you have to own or purchase the stock by the close on the day BEFORE the ex date.  This means you are now on record and the company can cut your dividend check.

With any broker or holding company you have the option to take the dividend (you will be taxed on that divvy) in cash, or purchase more shares with your dividend.  This is called Direct Reinvestment Investment PlanS or DRIPS.  You have a position in a company and year over year you accumulate more shares with the dividends.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The key date to remember for dividend paying stocks is the ex-dividend date. The Record Date, or Date of Record determines the Ex-dividend date, when you must own the stock.

In order for you to receive the upcoming dividend you must already own or you must purchase the stock prior to the ex-dividend date.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-dividend...

I own ABR. They have been paying 62 cents per share once every 3 months. That means their dividend yield is over 25 percent now.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=ABR&a=04...