Thus the stock trades X the dividend (without the dividend)
Well Ex means without. The Ex date is established by the Stock Exchange to determine who is entitled to the current dividend. As opposed to the company who use a Books Closed date to establish who they will pay the dividend to. The ERx Dividend date is the most important date.
After a dividend is delared but not yet paid out, there is a short time (a few days) where if you buy the stock, the dividend will go to the seller, not to you the buyer This is the ex-dividend period.
It means the stock trades without the right to collect the pending dividend.
"ex-div" -> EXCLUDES DIVIDEND
Stocks after dividend.
Almost all profit-making companies pay dividends (a percentage of profit) to their share-holders, mostly once a year. The final dividend is declared at the AGM. Normally, after declaration of the dividend, the value of the stock or share of the company, traded in various stock markets comes down. This is known as stocks going ex-dividend. Depending on the strength of the company, the value may go up within a few weeks.
