I have a basic question regarding the order of dividend declaration date and holder of record date:
Why is it that some equities have the dividend declaration date and the record date reversed?
As examples (from Nasdaq,com):
BNS has a declaration date of 5/30/17 and a record date of 7/4/17.
DOGS has a declaration date of 7/31/17 and a record date of 6/23/17.
FIW shows a declaration date of 7/27; Record date of 6/26; and payment date of 6/30.
Do some companies encourage new purchases by declaring dividends and then giving investors nearly a month to make a purchase, like BNS?
On the other hand, the price of the stock should adjust downwards by the amount of the dividend after the ex-dividend date, but if the ex-dividend date and holder of record date are before the declaration date, nobody knows what the dividend will be (or what the ex-dividend day is) and no adjustment can happen.
The order is declaration, ex date, and then record date (record date is ex date + settlement days). Ex date is the one that determines who gets the dividend. i.e. if you buy the stock before the ex date, you get the dividend.
I think nasdaq.com is wrong. I just looked at SDOG on nasdaq.com, and you’re right that it says the decleration date is 7/31 and a record date of 6/23. I just checked Bloomberg and it shows a record date of 6/23, but a declaration date of 6/20, which makes more sense. I can’t think of a situation where the decleration date would be before ex date or record date. Nasdaq.com just has bad information.
I actually also asked sent an e-mail to the SEC about this last week (I really wanted to know) and they just responded a few minutes ago as well saying the same thing.
It could very well be the case, that there is just some data entry error on nasdaq.