Dividend
A cash (or sometimes stock) payment a company distributes to shareholders out of its profits, usually on a regular schedule.
What it is
A dividend is money a company pays out to the people who own its shares, typically every quarter. It is one of two ways shareholders earn a return, the other being a rise in the share price. Most dividends are paid in cash per share, though some companies pay in additional stock.
Why it matters
Dividends provide income and signal that management believes profits are stable enough to share. The pitfall is chasing a high dividend yield without checking whether earnings or free cash flow actually cover the payment, because an uncovered dividend can be cut, which often sends the stock down.
How it's calculated
A dividend is declared by the board as a fixed amount per share; the total cash paid is that per-share amount multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Dividend yield expresses the annual dividend as a percentage of the share price.
How Quintarthai uses it
Dividend yield appears in the Key-metrics grid on each company's Summary page, and you can filter the North-American universe by yield in the Stock Screener.