Ex-Dividend

A stock is referred to as being ex-dividend if it no longer carries the value of the upcoming dividend payment. The day the stock begins trading without the value of its upcoming dividend payment is known as the ex-dividend date or "ex-date." An investor who purchases a stock on or after the ex-dividend date will not be entitled to the declared dividend. Typically, the ex-dividend date for a stock is one business day before the record date. Instead, whoever owned the stock on the day before the ex-dividend date receives the dividend payout.