You might hear them referred to as a 'dividend payment', 'stock dividend' or 'dividend payout' but they all mean the same thing.
Essentially, they are payments made to you for simply owning a stock. Not all companies pay them, but the ones that do publish their 'dividend yield' which is a fancy term for saying how much they'll pay you.
The best way to explain it is with an example.
Meet Lisa 👋.
Lisa invested £500 into Coca-cola stock using the Shares app. Coca-cola has a dividend yield around 2.87% at the time of writing. So, 2.87% of 500 = 14.35. Coca-cola pays their dividends 4 times a year. Therefore, 14.35 / 4 = £3.58. That's how we know Lisa receives £3.58 once every 3 months.
In other words, Lisa receives 2.87% of however much stock she has in Coca-cola. If Lisa owned an additional £100 in Johnson & Johnson stock, then she'd receive £4.08 a year. Again, this is because J&J has a dividend yield of 4.08%.
£3.58 once every 3 months might not sound like a lot, but as with all investing, keep context in mind. People often choose steady dividend stocks as an alternative to the interest of a bank account.
Not to mention, they can be automatically reinvested into your stocks which help them grow. This allows for compound interest, which especially when you’re young, is an extremely powerful form of interest.
For many, it’s also an added bonus. If someone buys a stock because they think the share price will grow over time, then these extra payments are essentially free money along the way!
Dividend kings 👑
A stock that is a 'dividend king' is a company that has paid dividends consecutively for 50 years AND increased the price at least once a year. Oh, and the company also needs a market cap around £2.5 billion. Yep, you don't get given the name king for nothing 😅.
Naturally, these companies have built up excellent trust with their shareholders and much of their model for raising investment comes from this strategy.
Dividend aristocrats 🎩
Aristocrats are the same as kings, except they have been paying and increasing dividends for at least 25 years but under 50. Similar to kings, aristocrats also require a market cap around £2.5 billion.
A mind-blowing example
There are plenty of non-king or aristocrat stocks that come with lots of opportunity though. Sometimes getting in early can result in big rewards, just as Warren Buffett found out.
At the start of this article I mentioned dividends are one of my favourite aspects of investing, and here's why.
The famous story lies with Berkshire Hathaway (Buffett’s company), who spent around £1.075 billion on Coca-cola shares in 1988. In 2021, the company earned £556 million in dividends alone. £556 million for doing nothing except own the stock. If that isn't passive income, I don't know what is!
Also keep in mind:
This wasn't a one off payment; they'd have also received dividends continually from 1988 onwards
This doesn't even take the growth of the stock price itself into consideration
You are paid out on the amount of shares you own, not the amount you paid. This is key as it allows an investor to grow with the company
And there you have it, the wonderful world of dividends. If you want to talk more about dividends then download the Shares app and message me what your favourite dividend stock is!
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As with all investing, your capital is at risk.
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