Q: I have a half position in this stock ET.CA which when asked in the past you have said there is no growth so might want to let it go, and so because of the div, I just left it to go back up. Today they announced a special div. Will the stock typically go down after the dividend has been paid out Dec 18th? And if I should sell, would I need to hold to the 19th to get the special Dividend and then sell? When is the best time to sell? Or is the company doing a turn around and it's worth to hang on? If they are doing better, I'm happy to keep it or could move on, and then what would I replace it with.? Please advise.
5i Research Answer:
We posted comments on the ET news on Thursday. Generally, stocks do decline on the ex-dividend date of a dividend. It may not decline by the full $1.00/share, but likely close. The ex-dividend is December 18, so one needs to own or buy the stock on December 17 or earlier to get the dividend. We would be OK holding this for income, but it is still a relatively slow-growth name with 'chunky' revenues. We would not expect huge gains here but the dividend flow is nice.