Ex-dividend date

The ex-dividend date is the cut-off that decides which of the two parties in a trade keeps the next dividend. Hold the share before that date and the payment is yours even if you sell on the day itself; buy on it or after it and the payment belongs to the seller. Three other dates surround it: the declaration date when the amount is announced, the record date used by the registrar, and the payment date when the cash actually arrives.

Why it matters

On the morning a share goes ex-dividend, its price is adjusted down by roughly the dividend amount, because the buyer no longer receives that imminent payment. This is arithmetic rather than sentiment, and it is why buying just before the date and selling just after does not produce free money. The gap between the ex-date and the payment date is also why a company can be reported as paying in March while your statement records the cash in April. Two calendars, one dividend.

How BullBenchmark shows it

We date received dividends by when the money reached your account, which is the date your bookkeeping and your currency conversion both need, and we schedule expected payments in the months they are due. That keeps the paid side and the projected side on the same axis, so a payment that moved a month reads as a shift rather than a hole. The month-by-month layout is visible in the live demo.

Related terms

Dividend · Dividend calendar · Withholding tax

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