Introducing Preferred Stock

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Introducing Preferred Stock

Preferred stocks serve different investment needs from common stock. Perhaps those needs and requirements are what you have.

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Online stock brokers have made stock trading quite popular among the masses. Online trading is now perceived as something that can help people attain their financial goals. There are different kinds of investments to suit the different investment objectives people have. Stocks itself are of two kinds - the common stock purchased by people and the preferred stock. How Preferred Stock Differs from Common Stock According to Investopedia, the preferred stock is a category of ownership in a company whereby the owner of the stock has a larger claim on the company’s earnings and assets than what the common stock offers. There is usually a dividend for preferred shares, and it must be paid to the shareholders before dividends are paid to the common shareholders. Preferred shares usually don’t have any voting rights, unlike common stock holders. While preferred stock provides fixed dividends and thereby has features of debt, it also has the possibility of appreciating in price, making it similar to equity. The dividends for preferred shareholders, paid quarterly or monthly, usually yield more than the dividends for common stockholders. You have these dividends fixed or set to a benchmark rate of interest. Factors influencing dividend yield are specified by adjustable-rate shares. Additional dividends, estimated in terms of the company profits or common stock dividends can be paid by participating shares. Cumulative Shares Even when a company is in a state of having to suspend its dividend owing to its struggles, preferred shareholders will receive the dividend payment in arrears. Only then can the dividend payment be re-established for common shareholders. These kinds of preferred shares are cumulative shares. When there are multiple preferred stock issues, they are ranked in priority. The highest ranking prioritywww.tradezero.co

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wise is called prior. After that you have the first preference, second preference and so on. Preferred Stocks and Bonds Preferred shareholders are subordinate to bondholders, but if the company is liquidated they do have a prior claim on the assets. Though preferred shares come under the equity category, they have the traits of hybrid assets in that they are somewhere between stocks and bonds. Credit rating agencies rate preferred shares, and the income they offer is more predictable than common stock. But preferred shareholders don’t have the same guarantees that creditors enjoy. Therefore preferred shares usually have lower ratings than bonds. The yields are also higher accordingly. There are usually no voting rights with preferred shares. Some agreements may, however, have these rights passing on to shareholders who‘ve not been given their dividend. You find individual investors buying preferred stock through online brokers, though this stock comes in various forms with different kinds of terms and agreements set by companies. Depending on your financial objectives, there are many stock options out there. With online stock brokers, buying stocks is a lot easier.

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