Dividend Question...

Ciprico

When you look at a stock on say HL, for example City of London IT, and see the dividend published (5.07%), is that the percentage of dividend payment against share price at the time when the dividend was paid, or the percentage of last dividend against "todays" share price - or something else...?

ColdIron

Hover over the figure to get the tooltip up where it explains it

Some funds use Historic Yield or Distribution Yield with different methodologies but again the tooltip will explain it

eskbanker

HL's explanation of what they mean by yield is at https://www.hl.co.uk/help#funds-shares-and-other-investments/funds/income-and-dividends/what-is-the-historicdistributionunderlying-yield

What is the historic/distribution/underlying yield?

The historic yield is calculated by looking at the income the fund has paid over the last year and dividing it by the latest unit price.

The distribution yield reflects the amounts that may be expected to be distributed over the next 12 months, as a percentage of the unit price. It is based on a snapshot of the portfolio.

The underlying yield is the annualised income of the fund, net of expenses, as a percentage of the unit price. It is based on a snapshot of the portfolio.

As with all yields, this is an estimate of what investors could expect to receive; it is variable and not guaranteed.

Linton

The published yield of a stock such as an IT is purely a calculated figure normally based on historic dividends and current price.  The dividend is defined as £s or p's per share, the price of the share does not affect the amount actually paid.  The amount paid as dividends by an IT may bear no relationship whatsoever to the dividends it received from its investments.