Dividend Pay-out Rates For Some STI Stocks

Here comes the time of the year when some STI stocks are in focus as they payout their regular dividends.

Strategies that investors can use during this period on the dividend-paying stocks:

1) Some investors take the opportunity to buy a STI stock during this period to collect its dividend. It is standard practice for the stock's price to decrease on the ex-dividend date by an amount roughly equal to the dividend paid. This reflects the decrease in the company’s assets resulting from the declaration of the dividend, and prevents people from “gaming” the dividend system. The stock does not take any explicit action to adjust its stock price; in an efficient market, buyers and sellers will automatically price this in. The investor would then hold this stock past XD date, for a longer period of time until the buy-in price is achieved, ie. their profit is the dividend amount.

2) Some investors buy the Reit early, then await for the Reit to rise by the dividend amount. If the stock has risen by the dividend amount before XD date, they would exit and earn by an equivalent dividend amount, without having to wait till April or May to get the dividend.

*Do note that the above illustrations do not factor in commission and fees.

What is CD/XD/Payable Date?

Cum-Dividend (CD) - If you buy a stock during the cum-dividend period, you will get the dividend. If you sell during the cum-dividend period, you will not get the dividend.

Ex-Dividend (XD) - If you buy a stock during the ex-dividend period, the stock trades without its dividend, ie. you will not get the dividend. The seller is entitled to receive the dividend. Conversely, if you want to sell a stock and still receive a dividend that has been declared, you need to sell on (or after) the ex-dividend date. The ex-dividend date is the most important date in dividend investing, since it determines who and who isn’t eligible to receive the dividend. You must own a stock before the ex-dividend date to receive the dividend.

Payable Date – This is the date the stock pays out the dividend to the holder on record.

Below are some notable STI stocks that are presently trading CD:

*Please note that the approximate yield mentioned below is the yield for the current dividend declared, ie. it is not the yield on a per annum basis.

Name of Stock	Ex-Dividend Date	Payable Date	Dividend Amount Per Share	04-Mar-2016 closing price	Approximate Yield % Based On Closing Price
CityDev	3-May-2016	20-May-2016	SGD 0.12	SGD 7.60	1.58%
ComfortDelGro	5-May-2016	16-May-2016	SGD 0.05	SGD 3.01	1.66%
DBS	5-May-2016	27-Jun-2016	SGD 0.30	SGD 15.36	1.95%
Golden Agri-Res	25-Apr-2016	9-May-2016	SGD 0.0052	SGD 0.40	1.30%
HongkongLand USD	16-Mar-2016	11-May-2016	USD 0.13	USD 6.13	2.12%
Jardine C&C	12-May-2016	23-Jun-2016	USD 0.51	SGD 39.55	1.29%
Keppel Corp	22-Apr-2016	6-May-2016	SGD 0.22	SGD 6.10	3.61%
OCBC Bank	26-Apr-2016	14-Jun-2016	SGD 0.18	SGD 8.79	2.05%
Sembcorp Ind	22-Apr-2016	17-May-2016	SGD 0.06	SGD 3.14	1.91%
Sembcorp Marine	26-Apr-2016	13-May-2016	SGD 0.02	SGD 1.765	1.13%
ST Engineering	25-Apr-2016	10-May-2016	SGD 0.10	SGD 3.10	3.23%
ThaiBev	5-May-2016	26-May-2016	THB 0.46	SGD 0.77	2.32%
UOB	27-Apr-2016	11-May-2016	SGD 0.35	SGD 18.50	1.89%
Wilmar Intl	6-May-2016	18-May-2016	SGD 0.055	SGD 3.21	1.71%