Ex-dividend date
The first day a stock trades without the right to the upcoming dividend; buyers on or after that day do not receive it.
The ex-dividend date is the first day a share trades without the entitlement to the declared dividend. An investor must own the stock before the ex-date to receive the payment. Under current US settlement (T+1), the record date falls one business day after the ex-date, and payment follows on a later date.
On our site, the ex-date is shown on the dividend calendar with the amount and payment date. Check this date first, since it decides eligibility.
Traders care because the share price typically drops by about the dividend amount on the ex-date, all else equal. Dividend capture strategies depend on that timing, and the drop is often smaller after tax.
Worked example (illustrative numbers, not real data): a stock closes at 50.00 the day before its ex-date. The quarterly dividend is 0.50. All else equal, the stock opens near 49.50 on the ex-date. A holder who owned the stock at the prior close receives 0.50 per share.