Go to Yahoo Finance and get stock quotes for xom, jnj, and pg. You should have heard of all three companies. They are considered "Blue Chips" (the best of the best) Each of them consistently pay dividends. Look for the Yield. Yield is the return on investment to the shareholder.
So to give you an example. XYZ sells for $100. and yields 5%, that would mean it would pay $5. in dividends for a 12 month period, probably $1.25 per quarter. (you probably thought it would be A LOT more, didn't you??)
Investing is a long term venture.
Keep in mind, that Investing triples your money in a decade.
Gambling triples your money overnight.
Slow and steady wins the investment race.
The stock market does go up and down. Some people CANNOT handle the volatility. For those people, it is best to buy a good mutual fund, and not watch the market every day.
Assuming that 740 is an annual dividend, then this stock is paying out roughly 5%. As most dividends go, that is definitely on the high side.
As to whether or not you should worry, the answer depends on both your tolerance for risk taking and the actual performance of the stock. Is this a solid stock that has been paying reliably well for several years? If so, that would mean less worry than if this payment was unusual for this stock. Is this your only investment? That should raise your worry level. Do you have plenty of other money in case this one tanks? etc etc There are just too many unknowns for anyone to give you a good answer.
Study the stock, its charts, and its dividend history. You'll reduce your worry if you see that it is relatively stable, but the market is still the market. It moves.
Can someone please explain to me how stocks work and if you invest 15,000 and the dividend is 740 is that good or not. Each day 15,000 keeps going up and it keeps going down should I be worried.
