Payment Date

Last Updated :

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Blog Author :

Gayatri Ailani

Edited by :

Raisa Ali

Reviewed by :

Dheeraj Vaidya, CFA, FRM

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Payment Date Meaning

Payment date refers to the date fixed for sending the dividend to the shareholders. The payment of dividends is decided and declared by the board of directors. The payment is made within a few days, weeks, or months after the declaration. Furthermore, it is also known as the payable date or pay date.

Payment Date

It is the day the actual payments flow to the eligible shareholders. Shareholders eligible for the dividend will receive the dividend on the payable date. The corporation commonly pays the broker acting as the shareholder's agent rather than the shareholder immediately during the payable date. The dividend will subsequently be deposited into the shareholder's account.

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  • The payment date refers to the date scheduled by the company to send the dividend payment to the eligible shareholders.
  • A procedure is followed while making the dividend payment in four categories: announcement date, ex-dividend date, record date, and payment date.
  • The company usually pays the dividend soon after declaration and record date, like in a few days or weeks.

Dividend Payment Date Explained

The payment date is an important term common with dividend distribution and the stock market. The dividends are the payments made to the company's shareholders when the company makes a significant profit, and the pay date indicates the date scheduled for dividend distribution. 

There are other significant dates associated with dividend distribution and pay dates. On the dividends declaration date, the company announces that it will pay dividends to the investors. On the record date, the company identifies or decides which all shareholders are eligible to receive the dividends. The people whose names are on the list are eligible to receive a dividend. However, if someone purchases company shares on the record date, they are not eligible to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is the business day before the record date which is the trading date on which the dividend distribution is not owed to a new buyer of the stock. 

The company establishes a date to prepare a record of all the shareholders who will receive dividends after the declaration; this is the record date. The business pays the dividends to the shareholders shortly after the record date, usually within a few days to months. The gap between the record date and payment date is important because the company needs to organize its funds, record current shareholders, and manage scheduling large numbers of payments to the shareholders. In addition, most shareholders' bank accounts are now registered with the company's registrar. It facilitates transparent payment and prevents delays in the dividend payout dates. 

The payment date concept is applicable in other areas also. For instance, there are social security benefits payment dates, pension plans pay dates like CPP payment dates, and grant pay dates like SASSA payment dates.

Examples

Let us look at pay date examples to understand the concept better: 

Example #1

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company founded in 1968. It is one of the most valuable IT service brands in the world. TCS declared the first and second interim dividends of Rs. 8 per share for FY 2022-23. For quarter 1, July 16, 2022, was the record date, and August 03, 2022, was the actual payment date of the TCS dividend. That is, the first interim dividend of ₹8 per equity share for the Q1 FY23 was paid by August 03, 2022. For quarter 2, October 18, 2022, was the record date, and November 07, 2022, is the actual pay date defined. 

Example #2

U.S. Global Investors, Inc. is a registered investment advisory firm that primarily sells mutual funds and aims to provide a wide array of investment options in the mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) space. The entity has vast experience in global markets and specialized sectors. 

On October 06, 2022, the company announced a change to its October 2022 dividend dates. As a result, the amended October record date is October 17, 2022, and the new pay date is October 31, 2022. Furthermore, there is no change to November and December 2022 dividend dates; the record dates are November 14, 2022, and December 12, 2022. Also, November 28, 2022, and December 27, 2022, are the corresponding pay dates.

Example #3

Let's look into some of the pay dates and other dates associated with dividend payments of the Procter & Gamble Company Dividends (NYSE - PG), an American multinational consumer goods corporation.

  • Announce date: April 13, 2021
  • Ex-dividend date: April 22, 2021
  • Record date: April 23, 2021
  • Pay date: May 17, 2021

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  • Announce date: July 13, 2021
  • Ex-dividend date: July 22, 2021
  • Record date: July 23, 2021
  • Pay date: August 16, 2021

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  • Announce date: October 12, 2021
  • Ex-dividend date: October 21, 2021
  • Record date: October 22, 2021
  • Pay date: November 15, 2021

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  • Announce date: January 11, 2022
  • Ex-dividend date: January 20, 2022
  • Record date: January 21, 2022
  • Pay date: February 15, 2022

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the payment date vs. the ex-dividend date?

The exact day a corporation distributes dividends to its eligible shareholders is known as the payment date. The ex-dividend date corresponds to the business day before the date of record.

What are the dividend record date and payment date?

The dividend record date is when a company makes a list of shareholders who are supposed to receive a dividend on the payment date. In other words, the date the company determines the eligible shareholders to receive the distribution. At the same time, the payment date is the date on which the dividend amount is to be transferred to the shareholders via cheques, deposits, online transfers, or shares. 

What is the significance of the payment date?

One of the significances is that investors may use a company's stock price swings on the dividend payable date to analyze how the market evaluates the stock.