Dividend dates calculator: last day to buy
Want the dividend? Put in the ex-dividend date. You'll see the last day you can buy and still get paid, holidays and weekends included, plus the day a covered call is most at risk.
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How it works: you need to own the shares before the ex-dividend date to get the dividend. So the last day to buy is the trading day just before it. The tool steps back one day at a time and skips weekends and US market holidays. Since May 28, 2024, US stock trades settle one business day after the trade (T+1). That makes the record date the same day as the ex-date. A covered call is most at risk of early assignment on that same last day: an owner who wants the dividend must exercise by then.
Buy before the ex-date, sell on it
The ex-dividend date is the first day the shares trade without the dividend. Buy on the ex-date or later, and the dividend goes to the seller. Buy by the close of the trading day before, and it's yours. You can even sell on the ex-date and still get paid. The share price usually drops by about the dividend when the stock opens on the ex-date, so it isn't free money. The payment itself comes later, on the pay date the company sets. More in what the ex-dividend date is, and every market date for the year is in the economic calendar for 2027.
Covered calls and the day before the ex-date
If you sold a covered call, the day before the ex-date is the one to watch. The call's owner can exercise it, buy your shares at the strike, and collect the dividend instead of you. That makes sense for them when the call is in the money and the time value left in it is smaller than the dividend. If it happens, your shares are gone before the ex-date and so is the dividend. You can check the numbers with the early assignment dividend calculator. More in early assignment before a dividend.
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