dividend

Payment a corporation makes to its shareholders from company earnings with total dividend amount set by the board of directors. That amount is then divided by the number of outstanding ordinary shares to determine the dividend per share (DPS). The company sets a date of record on or before which you must be “on the company’s books” in order to receive the declared dividend. Once the record date is set, the ex-dividend date can be determined; shareholders must purchase the stock before the ex-dividend date in order to receive the cash dividend.