Benzinga | Apr 19, 2021 10:20AM EDT

Understanding West Pharmaceutical Servs's Ex-Dividend Date

West Pharmaceutical Servs (NYSE:WST) declared a dividend payable on May 5, 2021 to its shareholders as of February 24, 2021. It was also announced that shareholders of West Pharmaceutical Servs's stock as of April 21, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. The ex-dividend date for West Pharmaceutical Servs will be on April 20, 2021. The company's current dividend payout is at $0.17. That equates to a dividend yield of 0.25% at current price levels.

Understanding 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. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Understanding West Pharmaceutical Servs's Dividend Payouts And Yields

Over the past year, West Pharmaceutical Servs has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and a downward trend regarding its yields. Last year on April 21, 2020 the company's payout was $0.16, which has since grown by $0.01. West Pharmaceutical Servs's dividend yield last year was 0.38%, which has since decreased by 0.13%.

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 West Pharmaceutical Servs click here.