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Common stock

Common stock

Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security.

Common stock represents ownership of a company, and are the most common form of stocks issues by companies. They give the common stock holder the right to share in company profits, and to vote on issues determining corporate policy and the composition of the board of directors.

The term 'common stock' is most commonly used in the United States, and in the other parts of the world people refer to common stocks as voting shares, ordinary shares, equity shares (United Kingdom and common wealth countries).

The capital yield of common stocks typically outperform other forms of investments due to capital growth (increase of common stock value), but also pose more risk to individuals owning common stocks due to the price volatility of common stock determined by market conditions and the possibility of future bankruptcy.

Dividends

Since common stocks represent ownership of a company, individuals owning common stocks have a right to claim a portion of the companies profits in the form of dividends. The amount of dividends payed to common stock holders is proportional to the amount of company profits and to the amount of common stock held by each individual.

Dividends are typically paid out quarterly (other dividend payout arrangements are possible) if the company issuing common stocks reports excess earnings. Common stock holders can receive dividends in two forms: a cash dividend or a stock dividend. A cash dividend is issued directly into a common stockholders bank account or through a dividend check which can be deposited immediately for cash. A stock dividend, also known as dividend reinvestment, increases the amount of common stocks a common stock holder owns within a company.

Dividend reinvestment

Dividend reinvestment is a way for companies to reward their common stock holders by allowing them to gain additional common stock without having to purchase stocks through a brokerage firm. Companies make dividend reinvestment is an attractive option for common stock holders by allowing common stock holders to gain additional common stock in a company at a discounted price (typically between 1-10%) without paying any commission fees.

Types of common stock

Timeline

Further Resources

Title
Author
Link
Type
Date

Common stock

Multiple

Academic

Common Stock (what it is and how to record it)

September 3, 2014

Common Stock Definition

James Chen

Web

Different Types of Stocks | Desjardins Online Brokerage

Desjardins

Web

Types of Common Stock

June 14, 2013

News

Title
Author
Date
Publisher
Description
B. Riley Principal 250 Merger Corp.
June 24, 2021
www.prnewswire.com:443
/PRNewswire/ -- B. Riley Principal 250 Merger Corp. (the "Company") (NASDAQ: BRIVU, BRIVW, BRIV), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an...
Talos Energy
June 24, 2021
www.prnewswire.com:443
/PRNewswire/ -- Talos Energy Inc. (NYSE: TALO) ("Talos" or the "Company") announced today the pricing of an underwritten public offering of an aggregate of...
Creatd, Inc.
June 21, 2021
www.prnewswire.com:443
/PRNewswire/ -- Creatd, Inc. (Nasdaq CM: CRTD) ("Creatd" or the "Company"), the parent company of Vocal, today announced the closing of its underwritten public...
Inversiones y Rentas S.A.
June 19, 2021
www.prnewswire.com:443
/PRNewswire/ -- Inversiones y Rentas S.A. ("IRSA") announces the final results of its tender offer (the "Offer") to purchase up to 16,390,172 issued and...
DuPont
June 17, 2021
www.prnewswire.com:443
/PRNewswire/ -- DuPont (NYSE: DD) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a third quarter dividend of $0.30 per share on the outstanding...
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References

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