Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Common Types Of Dividend Payments

By Cynthia Miller


Dividends are one off or periodic gains that are received by shareholders of a company. They are a great way of guaranteeing yourself a regular income stream particularly if you have invested in a profit-making company. Shareholders may receive a share of the profit either monthly, every six months or annually. Most companies award their bonuses once every year. There many different types of dividend payments that exist in the city of Florida.

Cash bonuses are the commonest. The amount to be paid is determined on the date of declaration by the board of directors. The pay-out is usually in the form of cash hence the name. The amount of money that each shareholder receives is in proportion to the number of shares held. The date of record refers to the date on which shareholders have the amount allocated and the date of payment is the date on which the payments are made.

Cash bonus has a major advantage in that it allows the shareholders to enjoy the economic value of their company in the form of cash. The main disadvantage associated with this is the fact that issuing the bonus usually affects the share price. As a matter of fact the proportion of price reduction corresponds to the amount of bonus that is paid out. A bonus of 5%, for instance causes a reduction in price of about 5%.

Stock bonuses are another common form. These are issued in the form of extra shares for each share held by a shareholders. For instance, the company may issue an additional share for every two shares such that an investor with a thousand shares ends up with an extra five hundred shares. The term is only used if the company in question issues less than 25% of shares held. If this value is exceeded the transaction is known as a stock split.

Property bonuses are examples of non-monetary bonuses. Since the fair market value of the property tends to differ from the book value the traction is usually captured as either a profit or a loss. The use of property bonuses is preferred by companies that wish to reduce the amount of reported and taxable income.

Scrip bonuses are issued under special circumstances. They are recommended by the board of directors when the company does not have monetary bonus to issue but is still keen on paying out at some point in the future. They work like promissory notes. The company may be planning to plow back the profits made or may not be making enough profits yet.

Liquidating bonuses are a bit rare. They are usually a one-off payment given to founding members of a company as part of their seed capital. The term is used because this type of dividend becomes necessary when there are plans to wind up a company. The accounting process involved when allocating these pay-outs follow the same principles as cash pay-outs.

Companies have many options when it comes to the payment of dividend. The type that is chosen is determined by factors such as the amount of profit in a financial year and shareholder resolutions during annual general meetings. Paying dividend regularly has the advantage of attracting more investors into the company. It has the downside of reducing the amount of capital available for expansion.




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