Dividends – How to find dividend details

In BullCharts, there are several dividend related data items that are stored in the BullCharts database. A list of all fundamental data items, including dividend details, can be displayed on the screen, and some indicators can be added to your price chart to flag the ex-dividend date and dividend payment date. This KnowledgeBase article provides more details about the dividend-related indicators.

Fundamental data items

The list of about 20 fundamental items that are stored in the BullCharts database and which can be accessed include the following dividend-related items:

  • Dividend per Share
  • Current Dividend Amount
  • Gross Dividend Amount
  • Annual Dividend per Share
  • Dividend Yield
  • Dividend Cover
  • Ex-dividend Date
  • Dividend Payable Date

NOTE: These data items in the database are only updated when newer information is announced by the company. For instance, the Ex-dividend date will be the last date that was announced, and which might be 6 to 12 months ago, or even longer if the company has not announced a dividend since then.

Also, when the bi-annual dividend season comes around, it is possible that a company might give just a few days notice of the upcoming dividend details. Until the details are announced, even for popular large caps, the ex-dividend date in the database will be the date from around 6 months previously.

Plotting the ex-div date

For investors and traders who are keen to see the upcoming ex-dividend date on their price chart, there are currently two supplied chart indicators which do this:

  • Dividend Vertical Lines
  • ExDate Vertical Line (which is an earlier version of the previous item).

In addition to these two indicators, there are a number of custom indicators that have been shared in the user community, one of which estimates the upcoming ex-dividend date based on the latest ex-dividend date in the database.

The Dividend Vertical Lines indicator

The supplied “Dividend Vertical Lines” indicator is shown in the screen shot below. Note a couple of customisations: the colours of the vertical lines and the “Div” amount text can be easily changed by the user, using the indicator properties dialogue, and then you can “Save as default”, and even add this to your Default Template so that it is automatically included by default on your price charts.

Dividend Vertical Lines indicator
The BullCharts Dividend Vertical Lines indicator

More information

For more information on this indicator, see the KB article “ex-dividend date…”.

Author: Robert Brain (aka Brainy)
Australian BullCharts User Group convenor

 

Was this article helpful?

Yes No

Related Articles