Benzinga | Dec 1, 2020 10:12AM EST

Understanding Suncor Energy's Ex-Dividend Date

On November 18, 2020, Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) declared a dividend payable on December 24, 2020 to its shareholders. Suncor Energy also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before December 3, 2020 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. The ex-dividend date for Suncor Energy will be on December 2, 2020. The company's current dividend payout is at $0.21. That equates to a dividend yield of 4.21% at current price levels.

The Significance Of An Ex-Dividend Date

An ex-dividend date signals when a company's shares cease to trade with its current dividend payout. There is a small intermission period before the company announces a new dividend. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Understanding Suncor Energy's Dividend Performance

Over the past year, Suncor Energy has seen its dividend payouts descend downward and yields trend upward. Last year on December 2, 2019 the company's payout sat at $0.42, which has since decreased by $0.21. Suncor Energy's dividend yield last year was 3.98%, which has since grown by 0.23%.

Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.

To read more about Suncor Energy click here.