DIVIDEND

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05 October 2010 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DISTRIBUTION OF DIVIDEND AND PAYMENT OF DIVIDEND....WHAT IS MEANT BY DISTRIBUTION OF DIVIDEND....

Ajay Mishra

Ajay Mishra (Expert)
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06 October 2010 Hi

Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders.[1] When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business (called retained earnings), or it can be paid to the shareholders as a dividend. Many corporations retain a portion of their earnings and pay the remainder as a dividend.
Dividends must be "declared" (approved) by a company’s Board of Directors each time they are paid. For public companies, there are four important dates to remember regarding dividends. These are discussed in detail with examples at the Securities and Exchange Commission site [1]
The declaration date is the day the Board of Directors announces its intention to pay a dividend. On this day, a liability is created and the company records that liability on its books; it now owes the money to the stockholders. On the declaration date, the Board will also announce a date of record and a payment date.
The in-dividend date is the last day, which is one trading day before the ex-dividend date, where the stock is said to be cum dividend ('with [including] dividend'). In other words, existing holders of the stock and anyone who buys it on this day will receive the dividend, whereas any holders selling the stock lose their right to the dividend. After this date the stock becomes ex dividend.
The ex-dividend date (typically 2 trading days before the record date for U.S. securities) is the day on which all shares bought and sold no longer come attached with the right to be paid the most recently declared dividend. This is an important date for any company that has many stockholders, including those that trade on exchanges, as it makes reconciliation of who is to be paid the dividend easier. Existing holders of the stock will receive the dividend even if they now sell the stock, whereas anyone who now buys the stock will not receive the dividend. It is relatively common for a stock's price to decrease on the ex-dividend date by an amount roughly equal to the dividend paid. This reflects the decrease in the company's assets resulting from the declaration of the dividend. The company does not take any explicit action to adjust its stock price; in an efficient market, buyers and sellers will automatically price this in.
Whenever a company announces a dividend pay-out, it also announces a "Book closure Date" which is a date on which the company will ideally temporarily close its books for fresh transfers of stock. Read "Book Closure" for a better understanding.
Shareholders who properly registered their ownership on or before the date of record, known as stockholders of record, will receive the dividend. Shareholders who are not registered as of this date will not receive the dividend. Registration in most countries is essentially automatic for shares purchased before the ex-dividend date.
The payment date is the day when the dividend checks will actually be mailed to the shareholders of a company or credited to brokerage accounts.
Regards

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