Difference Between Stock Dividend and Stock Split with Comparison Chart

Our work has been directly cited by organizations including Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Investopedia, Forbes, CNBC, and many others. Finance Strategists is a leading financial literacy non-profit organization priding itself on providing accurate and reliable financial information to millions of readers each year. As an alternative to debiting Retained Earnings (if allowed by state law), some firms choose to debit Additional Paid-In Capital or Capital in Excess of par. While there has been no disagreement concerning the amount to be used or the account to be credited, accounting practice shows two different accounts being debited.

With all other things remaining the same, the stock price will fall. The effect of a stock split on the market value of shares is inversely proportional to the size of the split. It will have no effect on the paid-in capital, retained earnings and stockholders’ equity. There is no effect on the par value per share, but with the issue of additional shares, the total number of outstanding shares increases. This is because it results in the transfer of the part of retained earnings to paid-up capital. It actually transfers the company’s general reserves into share capital.

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A company may initiate a reverse stock split if they believe the stock price is relatively “low” or to avoid being delisted (some exchanges have minimum share price requirements). In a 1-2 reverse stock split for a stock trading at $2, for example, you would receive 1 share for every 2 shares you owned after the split and the stock price would double to $4. Again, the total value of your investment would not change due to the stock split. For example, a common stock split ratio is a forward 2-1 split (i.e., 2 for 1), where a stockholder would receive 2 shares for every 1 share owned. This results in an increase in the total number of shares outstanding for the company, though no change in a shareholder’s proportional ownership.

A Stock Split occurs when a company increases the number of outstanding shares with a proportional decrease in the par or stated value. The reasoning behind the approach is that it does not alter the total amount of paid-in-capital or retained earnings and thus more clearly reflects the split nature of the stock dividend. The accounting for a stock dividend is based on the form of the transaction rather than its substance. For this reason, the practice is more complicated compared to the practice used for a split.

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For example, a 1-for-3 reverse split is one that replaces every three shares owned by a company’s investors with a single share of stock. So, if you owned 30 shares of a company’s stock before such a reverse split went into effect, you’d own 10 shares afterward. It’s important to know that a reverse stock split generally (but not always) happens for a negative reason such as after a big decline in a stock’s price. Stockholders might alternatively sell shares before the split distribution date at the lower post stock split price, and this is accomplished by the establishment of a “when issued” post-split price. The “when issued” price is approximately one-half of the regular pre-split price, to reflect the pending 2 for 1 split .

• In common parlance, the stock dividend can take the form of a bonus issue.
• The following stock transactions were completed during the first year.
• As a result of the stock split and the cost adjustment, the stockholder now has two shares, each with a cost basis of $50 a share.
• Management of a company might decide to split their stock if they believe the price is relatively “high” or that it is trading outside of an “optimal” range.

At Finance Strategists, we partner with financial experts to ensure the accuracy of our financial content. The Purpose of both Stock dividends vs Stock Splits is totally different from each other. Whenever these terms are used, one should not treat them as the same should be careful. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services.

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Dividends are a percentage of the corporation’s profits paid to the shareholder, typically quarterly or annually. Investors are paid dividends based on the number of shares they own. If the company pays $.25 per share and you own 1,000 shares, you’ll receive $250.

In other words, Betty Joe’s Donuts will go public and offer stock, a percentage share of the corporation, to the public. Companies go public hoping a demand exists for their stock to bring cash into the organization. https://www.bookstime.com/articles/stock-splits-and-stock-dividends When investors purchase stock they become shareholders, and the company receives cash for expansion and growth initiatives, operating expenses, and advertising budget or research and development projects.

To effect the split, the stockholders approved an increase in the authorized common stock from 10,000,000 to 25,000,000 shares. All references to per-share data and stock option data have been adjusted to reflect this stock split. From the investor’s viewpoint, each stockholder receives two additional shares for each share owned. In effect, the old shares are canceled and shares with the new par value are issued.

In both cases, the number of shares issued and outstanding doubles, and the market price per share will fall accordingly. A stock split is a multiplying or dividing of a company’s outstanding share count that doesn’t change its overall market value or capitalization. For example, if a company doubles its share count by giving investors one additional share of stock for every share they own, each shareholder will own twice as many shares of stock. However, the overall value of all outstanding shares won’t change since no additional capital will have been paid into the company. For example, in a 5% stock dividend, you will receive one additional share for every 20 shares you already own.

These events are usually non-taxable, but change the number of shares you own and the basis of those shares. In terms of the amount of other paid-in capital or retained earnings to be capitalized, a stock split in the form of a dividend differs from an ordinary stock dividend. An ordinary stock dividend entails capitalizing (charging) retained earnings in the amount of the stock distributed fair value.

Stock Split and Stock Dividend are different, and cannot be used interchangeably. As the name itself tells the meaning, Stock Split means splitting of Stock or Equity Shares. Stock splits are splitting of already issued shares to increase the no. of shares of the Company. You should contact your tax advisor with any questions you have about calculating your cost basis. IBM delivered stock split shares in 1997 and 1999 (the last two stock splits) using book entry. For stock splits prior to 1997, shares were delivered in certificate form and the stock certificates were mailed directly to the address of record for each stockholder.

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A conventional stock split is a fairly clean increase of position size and a strike price adjustment and doesn’t affect the value of an options position. It only means that the investor will be holding a greater number of contracts at a lower price. However, a non-standard corporate action may not be as straightforward and may require a deeper evaluation of the changes to the position. From just prior to the stock split record date, through the stock split distribution date, two separate markets  exist for IBM. The “regular way” market continued to trade at the higher, pre-split price. According to GAAP, the distribution of more than 20% to 25% of the number of shares previously outstanding would result in a considerable drop in the market price.

However, when financial statements are issued, the information regarding the stock split and the new par value per share must be disclosed. When the market price per share is too high, investors may lose interest because it is most economical to purchase stock in round lots of 100. A stock price that is too high makes round-lot purchases impossible for some potential investors. With this new number of shares outstanding, the company’s market cap remains the same, but the share price will decrease to $3.13 ($750/240). In the case of a cash dividend, shareholders receive a payment in cash that is based on the number of shares they own. Let’s say a corporation declares a cash dividend of $0.25 per share.