How are Share Prices Get Affected By Dividends?

It is possible to build long-term wealth by investing in dividend-paying companies. This is due to the fact that these companies provide both regular dividend payments and share price appreciation, which is one of the main reasons why they are so popular.

Did you know that a company's decision to pay dividends to equity shareholders can have an impact on its share price? You read that correctly. There is a correlation between the share prices and dividends. Here's the answer to the question, "How do dividends affect stock prices?"

Before we move on to the section about how dividends impact stock prices, let us quickly look at the concept dividends.

The concept dividends

Technically, equity shareholders are the owners of a company. As such, the equity shareholders have a right to the company's profits. Dividends are the way a company distributes its profits to its equity shareholders when it generates them.

A company does not have to pay dividends in cash every time it pays them. Dividends can also be paid out by companies to their shareholders through the free distribution of new equity shares. Investors commonly refer to such a dividend payout as stock dividends.

Dividend payouts are not made by companies because equity shareholders claim a share of its profits. It does this to show its appreciation for their equity shareholders' belief in the company and their investment in it. To encourage future investors to invest, the company pays dividends to existing shareholders.

What does dividend do to share price?

Once you are familiar with the dividend concept, let us answer the question "How do dividends affect stock prices?" Dividends act as an indicator of financial health and success of a company. Here are some tips to help you understand how dividends impact stock prices.

Dividend-paying companies receive favorable treatment

While equity shareholders have a claim on the company's profits, they do not have the right to distribute these profits via dividends. Although these shareholders do not have guaranteed dividends, many established businesses make it a practice to distribute the profits they earn regularly and consistently.

This gives the company a sense of stability and increases the brand and goodwill. These entities are more attractive to investors than entities that don’t distribute dividends as frequently. These companies' consistent dividend-paying system tends to attract more investors and create demand for the stock. The share price rises as more investors flock to the company.

There's a flip side to this coin. Negative public sentiment is attracted to companies that pay dividends irregularly, or at a lower rate than usual. Investors view these companies as financially volatile. This can delay the entry of new investors or cause the exit of existing shareholders. These companies' share prices can take a hit and slide. Companies with a strong track record of consistently paying dividends can experience this effect more.

Dividend declaration results in an increase of the share price

Before distributing dividends to shareholders, a company must first make a public declaration. The declaration contains essential information such as the dividend amount and record date, ex dividend date, and date when the dividend will likely be credited to all equity shareholders.

This public declaration can increase the positive sentiment towards the stock. This would invariably lead to more investors buying the stock and a rise in the share price. Investors and traders may also purchase the stock of the company to capture the dividend. This would increase the stock's price.

When is ex dividend, the share price falls.

Continued from the previous point: The share price that rose after the company declared the Dividend would automatically adjust itself at the ex dividend date. This is due to the fact that any new purchasers of company stock after the ex dividend date will automatically be ineligible for dividends.

The new buyers wouldn't be receiving any dividend benefits by buying the shares of the company, so they would be reluctant to pay a high premium for the shares. The buyers will start to quote lower prices for shares of the company. This would cause a decline in stock price.

Conclusion

These three points answer the question "How does dividend affect share prices?" and are applicable not only to dividend-paying companies that pay in cash but also to dividend-distributing companies that issue stock issuances. The 'dividend payout rate' can have an impact on the share prices of dividend-paying companies. If a company's dividend payment ratio (DPR), is high, it can reduce the likelihood of consistent dividend payments. This could lead to a decrease in share prices and negative stock sentiment.

Similar to the previous point, a low dividend payout rate essentially means that the company pays too few dividends. This can also affect the stock price. Companies with stable and moderate dividend payout rates enjoy higher investor sentiment and share prices.