Shares and Dividends

tinstar101

Hi, new user, 1st post!

Its about shares.

My bad has over 2000 shares in standard life, received as part of his pension plan many years ago. We recently moved them into a online account to make trading them in the future easier.

He now wishes to cash them in, to help him pay off his mortgage, but he has 2 concerns. the first is that he is due a yearly dividend later in October, and cashing them in now he fears he won't get that divi. Is that correct?

The 2nd, and biggest issue, is that Standard life recently sold off a part of its company, leading to a windfall for shareholders that will see each shareholder get a extra divi of 73p per share. But it looks like this may not arrive until May 2015. so if he cashes in now, will he still get that divi, or is he going to have to hold onto those shares for longer?

Thanks for any help.

le_loup

Probably not but the dividend is in the current price.
In other words when the shares go ex-dividend the value will drop to reflect the dividend due.
So take it now or later, the effect will be the same.

James_B.

A point of terminology first, he'll need to sell the shares not cash them in. It's not a pedantic point, as cashing something in normally means that you are getting a pre-agreed value; selling shares means that you have to sell them for whatever a buyer will pay at that time.

No, there is an "ex-dividend" date, and if you sell the shares before that, you do indeed lose the dividend, and the buyer gets it. This is not normally an issue, though, as the price that a buyer will pay should be higher to reflect the dividend that they will get.

xylophone

The 2014 interim dividend is due payable on 21 October - it is payable to those who held the shares on the record date

http://www.standardlife.com/shareholders/dividends.html#4

'Dividends are paid to all shareholders who are on Standard Life plc's share register at the close of business on the record date. This can be up to three months before the dividend payment date. If you buy or sell shares shortly before the record date this may affect whether you receive the next dividend payment. For more information contact your local Shareholder Services team - you can find the number in contact details - or your broker."

each shareholder get a extra divi of 73p per share.

Not a special dividend apparently

http://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2014/09/04/standard-life-plc-surges-on-2-2bn-canada-sale/

Check the situation with the Shareholder Service Team as above?

CLAPTON

the shares are already ex-dividend for the 21st oct 2014 dividend payment so he will receive them whether he sell now or later.


if he sell now or anytime before the next ex-dividend date (currently unknown) then he will not receive the next one in 2015.
however this makes little difference to his overall return.