Dividend

A dividend is a cash payment a company or a fund makes to the people who hold its shares, usually quarterly, twice a year or once a year. The board declares an amount per share, and every holder on the register at the cut-off receives that amount multiplied by their share count. The money leaves the company, so the share price adjusts downward by roughly the same amount on the day the claim is separated from the share.

Why it matters

Dividends are a real part of your return, but they are a transfer rather than a bonus: cash arrives in your account and an equivalent slice of value leaves the price. They also arrive messily. Payments land weeks after the dates quoted in the press, foreign payments arrive net of tax and converted at that day's rate, and a portfolio spanning three markets produces months that are full and months that are empty. Adding them up by hand is where most spreadsheets quietly go wrong.

How BullBenchmark shows it

We read the dividends you actually received from your broker statements, so the amounts are net and dated as they landed, and we set them beside what your current holdings are expected to pay. Both sides appear per month and per position, which makes a cut or a raise visible as a gap between projected and paid rather than as a surprise at year end. Both views are filled in on the demo dashboard.

Related terms

Ex-dividend date · Dividend calendar · Projected dividend income

Back to the glossary.