Definition: Dividend refers to a reward, cash or otherwise, that a company gives to its shareholders. Dividends can be issued in various forms, such as cash payment, stocks or any other form. A company’s dividend is decided by its board of directors and it requires the shareholders’ approval. However, it is not obligatory for a company to pay dividend. Dividend is usually a part of the profit that the company shares with its shareholders.
Description: After paying its creditors, a company can use part or whole of the residual profits to reward its shareholders as dividends. However, when firms face cash shortage or when it needs cash for reinvestments, it can also skip paying dividends. When a company announces dividend, it also fixes a record date and all shareholders who are registered as of that date become eligible to get dividend payout in proportion to their shareholding. The company usually mails the cheques to shareholders within in a week or so. Stocks are normally bought or sold with dividend until two business days ahead of the record date and then they turn ex-dividend. A recent study found that dividend-paying firms in India fell from 24 per cent in 2001 to almost 16 per cent in 2009 before rising to 19 per cent in 2010.
In the US, some of the companies like Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Oracle do not pay dividends and reinvest their total profit in the business itself. Dividend payment usually does not affect the fundamental value of a company’s share price. Companies with high growth rate and at an early stage of their ventures rarely pay dividends as they prefer to reinvest most of their profit to help sustain the higher growth and expansion. On the other hand, established companies try to offer regular dividends to reward loyal investors.
SBI pays Rs 6,959 crore dividend to govtSBI declared a dividend of Rs 13.70 per share for the financial year 2023-24, higher than Rs 11.30 per equity distributed for the previous year. During 2023-24, the bank earned a record consolidated net profit of Rs 67,085 crore against Rs 55,648 crore in the preceding year.
HAL to consider final dividend payout for FY23-24 on June 26On Wednesday, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), a defense PSU, disclosed its plan to discuss the payment of the final dividend for the fiscal year 2023-24 during its board meeting scheduled for June 26th.
Balancing Act: With greater capex comes lower dividendThe dividend payout ratio is the proportion of a company's earnings paid to shareholders as dividends. This payout tends to be lower in times when companies spend more on expansion. Companies with a high cash flow in mature industries tend to have higher dividend payout ratios.
HDFC AMC announces dividend of Rs 70 per share for FY 24On Friday, during its meeting, the board of directors of HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) declared an interim dividend of Rs 70 per share for its eligible shareholders.
Aramco sale set to raise at least $11.2 billion for Saudi ArabiaSaudi Aramco's mega stock offering, set to raise $11.2 billion, supports the government's economic transformation. The sale includes Aramco's $124 billion dividend, attracting foreign investors despite challenges in the oil market.
At 5.6% of GDP, FY24 fiscal gap beats targetIn absolute terms, the FY24 fiscal deficit stood at ?16.54 lakh crore, down from the revised estimate of ?17.35 lakh crore and FY23 level of ?17.38 lakh crore, showed the official data released on Friday. A lower-than-anticipated deficit in FY24 and a generous surplus transfer by RBI earlier this month make the government's goal of reining in fiscal gap at 5.1% of GDP in FY25 seem more realistic now, experts said.