How long do you have to hold onto shares before you qualify to receive dividends?

Question

Presumably you can't just buy shares in a company the day before dividends are due to be paid...

Answer 1

Yes you can actually. When a company sets a dividend it will also announce a date on which all current shareholders will qualify for the payment. There will be a second date when the company goes "ex-dividend". That means that if you buy in after that point you no longer qualify.

All the relevent dates will be in the Investors section on the company website. You will normally find that the shareprice edges up when the dividend becomes due to take account of the fact that anyone who buys around that point will qualify for the payment.

Answer 2

Dividends are paid out to everyone owning shares on a certain date (each company decided what that date is). So if you buy the shares the day before the allocated date then you will have earned the dividend.

So the following day anyone buying shares in that company will not be entitled to the dividend (i.e. the share go ex-dividend), so it is normal for the share price to drop to reflect the fact that the dividend it not being received.

So, the shares could then be sold a couple of days after buying them and you will be entitled to the dividend, which will then be paid out a few weeks later.

Answer 3

A firm will declare a dividend to paid at some date in the future to the holders of record on a date usually 15 days before they pay the dividend. Two days before the date of record, the stock trades ex dividend. Stock transactions take two days to actually settle, so buying a stock on the date of record would mean that your name wouldn't actually be recorded as owning the stock until two days later, thus even though you bought the stock the day of record, the divident paying firm wouldn't know you own it. So when even buying before the record date doesn't mean you will get the dividend if its after the ex-dividend date. So, in short, the firm announced they will pay a dividend on x amount to all holders on a particular date - "date of record" The ex-dividend date being a couple days before that, is the "TRUE" Date of record, On this date the stock trades with out the dividend, and with an "x-" next to its symbol. The price most always drops by the amount of the dividend that will be paid. So buying the day before the ex-date to receive the dividend and selling on the ex-date or later would most likely be at a lower price so what you make on the dividend is lost on the fall in stock price, If there was a way to buy to profit from it, everyone would do it, thus eliminating the opportunity.

Answer 4

There is a date when the shares go 'ex-dividend' that means you buy the shares but without the rights to any declared dividend, or conversely sell the shares but you will still be paid the dividend.

The 'ex-dividend' date is some time ahead of the actual date that the dividend is paid out. Look at the company web site for details of the relevant dates for Board Meetings, Dividend dates etc.

Answer 5

All shares have a date known as the ex-dividend date which is the day on or after which shares are traded without a declared dividend or distribution.

Pull up a XOM on the finance page. In the key statistics area, you can see there is a date listed for the ex-dividend date. For XOM in this case it is 10-Aug-06. If you purchase the shares after that date, the seller will be entitled to the most recently declared dividend (not you).

Answer 6

Penny stocks, also known as cent stocks in some countries, are common shares of small public companies that trade at low prices per share. They are notoriously risky but if you follow a special method I've learned you can earn good money at almost no risk. This is the site I use: http://pennystocks.toptips.org

I definitely recommend subscribing to this site in particular. Very good research, quality stocks. I was a bit weary of penny stocks from all the bad hype they receive but this guy is pretty legit. He's put my mind at ease with a lot of the fears I've had. I especially like that he doesn't send out announcements left and right. I've signed up for other websites that fill my in-box with one company after the other. I don't know where to even start with so many choices in front of me! Nathan sends me one idea a week and that's all I need. Working so many hours during the week leaves me with very little time when I get home to start doing tons of penny stock research. I'm always eager to see what Nathan's next suggestion is each Friday and I love having time on the weekend to do my research.

As said above if you want to make money with penny stocks you have to follow some proven methods. This one in my opinion is the best: http://pennystocks.toptips.org

Answer 7

There is a cut off date for dividends. Before this date you get them after it you don't. Unfortunately the share price drops after this date ( other things being equal)

Answer 8

Penny stocks are loosely categorized companies with share prices of below $5 and with market caps of under $200 million. They are sometimes referred to as "the slot machines of the equity market" because of the money involved. There may be a good place for penny stocks in the portfolio of an experienced, advanced investor, however, if you follow this guide you will learn the most efficient strategies https://tr.im/c8109

Answer 9

Dividends are paid every 6 months so you buy them and they qualify on the next pay day. beegee

Answer 10

before and all the way up to the point when they declare how much dividend is to be paid I believe