Question 1

What is a dividend calendar?

Accepted Answer

A dividend calendar lists the three dates that matter for a scheduled cash payout: the ex-dividend date, when a share stops carrying the right to the upcoming payment and its price typically opens lower by roughly the dividend amount; the record date, one business day later under the US T+1 settlement cycle, when the company checks its shareholder register to decide who gets paid; and the payment date, when the cash actually lands in a brokerage account. Owning the shares by the close of the day before the ex-dividend date is what secures the payment — the record date itself needs no action from the shareholder.

Question 2

What does the ex-dividend date mean?

Accepted Answer

The ex-dividend date is the first day a share trades without the right to the next dividend. Anyone who buys on or after that date is not entitled to the upcoming payment; anyone who already held the shares the day before still gets paid, even if they sell on the ex-dividend date itself.

Question 3

What's the difference between the record date and the payment date?

Accepted Answer

The record date is when the company checks its shareholder register to determine who is owed the dividend — it falls one business day after the ex-dividend date and requires no action. The payment date, often two to four weeks later, is when the cash actually arrives in a brokerage account.

Question 4

Why does a stock's price drop on the ex-dividend date?

Accepted Answer

Once a share no longer carries the right to the upcoming payment, it is worth roughly the dividend amount less than it was the day before, so exchanges adjust the opening reference price down by that amount. The actual open can differ from that adjustment, since ordinary overnight news and order flow move the price too.

Question 5

Can I buy right before the ex-date and sell after to collect the dividend?

Accepted Answer

That's the idea behind dividend capture, but it rarely produces free money: the price adjustment on the ex-dividend date tends to offset most of the payment, and the spread, taxes on the dividend and any holding-period requirements for preferential tax treatment usually erase the rest. This is not investment advice.

Question 6

Where does this data come from?

Accepted Answer

Ex-dividend dates, per-share amounts and payment dates are synced from Yahoo Finance and earningsapi.com and refreshed automatically. Payment dates are sometimes announced only after the ex-date has passed, and issuers occasionally revise amounts — always confirm the exact figures with the company's own investor relations page before trading around them.

Dividend calendar

What is a dividend calendar?

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