Benzinga | Oct 28, 2020 10:20AM EDT

Ex-Dividend Date Insight: A.O. Smith

A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) declared a dividend payable on November 16, 2020 to its shareholders as of October 12, 2020. It was also announced that shareholders of A.O. Smith's stock as of October 30, 2020 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. A.O. Smith, which has a current dividend payout of $0.26, has an ex-dividend date scheduled for October 29, 2020. That equates to a dividend yield of 1.82% at current price levels.

What Are Ex-Dividend Dates?

Ex-dividend dates are when company shares stop trading with their current dividend payouts in preparation for those companies to announce new ones. 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. Most ex-dividend dates operate on a quarterly basis.

Understanding A.O. Smith's Dividend History

Over the past year, A.O. Smith has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and a downward trend regarding its yields. Last year on October 30, 2019 the company's payout was $0.24, which has since grown by $0.02. A.O. Smith's dividend yield last year was 2.11%, which has since decreased by 0.29%.

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.