What does xd or \ex-dividend mean?
This is a description, sometimes abbreviated to ‘xd’ that is often quoted next to a share price. It translates as ‘without dividend’ and means that the next dividend payment is not included in the price of the share. This is necessary because the dividend is paid to all shareholders who were on the register at close of trading on a specified day. Any shareholder buying shares who is registered after this day will not receive the dividend. To compensate for this, the market price usually drops by the amount of the dividend payment and the description ‘xd’ is added to share price quotations to confirm that this has happened. To avoid confusion around this time, prices are sometimes quoted ‘cum dividend’ (meaning ‘with dividend’) which means that the buyer will be entitled to the next dividend payment and the share price has not been adjusted.
