Definition

1. Noun:
   • A sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits or reserves: This is the primary financial meaning, referring to the distribution of a portion of a company's earnings.
   • A number to be divided by another number: In mathematics, the dividend is the quantity in a division problem that is being divided.
   • A benefit or advantage; a bonus: A more general meaning referring to an unexpected benefit or positive result from an action or situation.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Finance):
  • The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share.
  • Investors often buy stocks that pay reliable dividends.
• Noun (Mathematics):
  • In the equation 20 ÷ 5 = 4, the number 20 is the dividend.
• Noun (General Benefit):
  • One of the dividends of hard work is personal satisfaction.
  • Peace is an important dividend of successful diplomacy.

Advanced Usage

• "to pay dividends": To yield benefits or positive results in the future.
  • Her early investment in education paid dividends later in her career.
• "dividend yield": A financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its stock price.
  • The stock has a high dividend yield, making it attractive to income-focused investors.

Variants and Related Words

• Dividend policy (n): A company's policy or strategy regarding the amount and timing of dividend payments to shareholders.
• Dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) (n): A program that allows shareholders to automatically reinvest their cash dividends into additional shares of the company's stock.
• Dividend aristocrat (n): A company in the S&P 500 index that has increased its dividend payouts for at least 25 consecutive years.

Synonyms

• Payout (n): A sum of money paid out, especially a dividend or profit share.
• Distribution (n): The act of sharing something out among a number of recipients; in finance, a payment from a fund or company.
• Return (n): A profit from an investment.

Related Phrases

• Final dividend: A dividend declared at a company's annual general meeting, as opposed to an interim dividend paid during the fiscal year.
• Scrip dividend: A dividend paid in the form of additional shares rather than cash.
• Dividend cover: A measure of a company's ability to pay dividends from its earnings.

Noun

1. a bonus; something extra (especially a share of a surplus)
2. a number to be divided by another number
3. that part of the earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its shareholders; usually paid quarterly