dividend
Definition
A taxable payment declared by a company's board of directors and given to its shareholders out of the company's current or retained earnings, usually quarterly. Dividends are usually given as cash (cash dividend), but they can also take the form of stock (stock dividend) or other property. Dividends provide an incentive to own stock in stable companies even if they are not experiencing much growth. Companies are not required to pay dividends. The companies that offer dividends are most often companies that have progressed beyond the growth phase, and no longer benefit sufficiently by reinvesting their profits, so they usually choose to pay them out to their shareholders. also called payout.
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Related Terms
yield, 1099, accumulated dividend, Accumulated Earnings Tax, adjustable rate preferred stock, cash dividend, cumulative dividend, bear trap, record date, payable date, declaration date, declare, disbursing agent, distribution, ex-dividend, guaranteed stock, shareholder of record, income fund, income stock, indicated dividend, interim dividend, omitted dividend, optional dividend, participating dividend, patronage dividend, payment date, peace dividend, reinvestment, restricted surplus, stock, trading dividends, unpaid dividend, accrued dividend, special dividend
'dividend
' appears in the definitions of these terms on BusinessDictionary.comdividend capitalization model, dividend cover, declaration date, income stock, x or xd, and 
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