By Leanna Kelly When investing in dividend stocks, ex-dividend date is an important term to understand. Also called “Ex-Date” for short, it’s the cutoff date for dividend eligibility. A stockholder must own the stock prior to the ex-date in order to be eligible for its upcoming dividend payout. Typically, a stock’s price falls on this date to reflect the value of the upcoming dividend payment.
There are a number of reasons to understand the ex-dividend date. Not only does it qualify you for the dividend payment, it also affects the stock’s trading price and can influence when to buy or sell a dividend-paying stock. …read more
