Benzinga | Oct 26, 2020 01:06PM EDT

Understanding Citizens Financial Group's Ex-Dividend Date

On October 27, 2020, Citizens Financial Group (NYSE:CFG) declared a dividend payable on November 12, 2020 to its shareholders. Citizens Financial Group also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before October 28, 2020 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Citizens Financial Group, whose current dividend payout is $0.39, has an ex-dividend date set at October 27, 2020. The payout equates to a dividend yield of 5.59% at current price levels.

The Significance Of 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.

Citizens Financial Group's Dividend Payouts And Yields

Over the past year, Citizens Financial Group has seen its dividend payouts and yields climb upward overall. Last year (October 29, 2019), the company's payout sat at $0.36, which has since increased by $0.03. Citizens Financial Group's dividend yield last year was 4.11%, which has since grown by 1.48%.

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.