Benzinga | Feb 11, 2021 10:18AM EST

Ex-Dividend Date Insight: Applied Industrial

On January 28, 2021, Applied Industrial (NYSE:AIT) declared a dividend payable on February 26, 2021 to its shareholders. Applied Industrial also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before February 16, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 2 business day(s) before the record date. Applied Industrial, which has a current dividend per share of $0.33, has an ex-dividend date scheduled for February 12, 2021. That equates to a dividend yield of 1.71% 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. Most ex-dividend dates operate on a quarterly basis.

Applied Industrial's Dividend Performance

Over the past year, Applied Industrial has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and a downward trend regarding its yields. Last year on February 13, 2020 the company's payout was $0.32, which has since grown by $0.01. Applied Industrial's dividend yield last year was 1.93%, which has since decreased by 0.22%.

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.

Click here to find details on Applied Industrial's previous dividends.