- Dividend University
- DIV 101
Dividend Foundations
Start here if you have never owned a dividend stock. You will learn what a dividend actually is, why a company pays one, the dates that decide who gets paid, and the three numbers every income investor checks first: yield, payout ratio and total return.
- Explain what a dividend is and where the money comes from
- Use the ex-dividend date to know whether you will be paid
- Calculate dividend yield and payout ratio by hand
- Judge an investment by total return instead of yield alone
Syllabus
- 18 min
What Is a Dividend?
A share of a company's profit, paid to you in cash for owning the stock.
- 28 min
Why Companies Pay Dividends (and Why Some Never Do)
A dividend is a choice about what to do with spare cash, and that choice says a lot about the business.
- 39 min
The Four Dividend Dates
Declaration, ex-dividend, record and payment: the calendar that decides who gets paid.
- 410 min
Dividend Yield: What It Tells You and What It Hides
The simplest number in dividend investing, and the easiest one to misread.
- 59 min
The Payout Ratio: Can the Company Afford Its Dividend?
How much of its profit a company hands out, and how much room that leaves.
- 69 min
Total Return: Why the Dividend Is Only Half the Story
Dividends plus price change: the only honest scoreboard for an income investment.
- 77 min
Monthly, Quarterly and Weekly Dividends
How often you get paid changes your cash flow, not your return. Mostly.