Dividends
Also, some large companies provide dividends, a share of the profits, to their stockholders. For example, if the company Soda Pop did really well one year and made quite a bit of profit, then its stockholders would benefit as the company gives out dividends based on this profit. For example, each stock may get a $1 dividend since the company did so well. If you owned 50 shares in the company Soda Pop, then you would get a dividend of 1*50 = $50 if you still own the stock at the time the dividends are sent out.
Earnings
Say you have purchased 10 shares in the company Soda Pop for $10 each. You have spent 10*10 or $100 to purchase these 10 shares plus any brokerage fees. If your brokerage is $7 per transaction, then you would have spent 100 + 7 or $107 to buy 10 shares in the company. You hold onto these shares because you believe in the company Soda Pop. You know that they have a good product and you believe that they will get better.
One year later, the stock price for Soda Pop has increased to $20. Hey, that's a $10 increase per share since the time you bought it. What does this mean for you? This means that if you sell your shares in Soda Pop you will earn $10 per share. If you sold all 10 shares, you would get 20*10 or $200. With a brokerage fee of $7, you would get $200 - $7 or $193. We subtracted the brokerage fee since that is the amount you have to pay while the $200 is the money you earn.
When you sell stocks, you subtract the brokerage fee from the money you earn. When you buy stocks, you add the brokerage fee to the money you spend. So how much did you earn? 193 - 107 = $86. We subtracted the amount we spent to purchase the stock 1 year ago from the amount we earned when we sold it a year later. If there were dividends that were given out, you would add this amount to the amount you earned.
Example
Let's look at an example:
Sarah purchases 20 shares of company I.N.K for $5 per share. She holds onto them for a year. During that year, I.N.K gave out dividends of $0.50 per share. After a year, she sells the stock I.N.K for $10 per share. How much money did she earn? Sarah's brokerage company charges $4 per transaction.
First, we need to find out how much money Sarah spent to purchase her 20 shares. We multiply the 20 shares by the cost when she bought them. 20*5 is $100. Then, we add the brokerage fee of $4. 100 + 4 is $104. So, Sarah spent $104. Next, we calculate her dividends. 20*$0.50 is $10. So, Sarah earned $10 in dividends for her 20 shares. Now, we can calculate how much Sarah earns when she sells her shares. 20*10 = $200. Subtracting the brokerage fee, we get $200 - $4 or $196. Now, to find how much Sarah earns in total, we subtract the $104 from the $196 and then add the $10. 196 - 104 + 10 = $102. Sarah earned $102 by keeping the I.N.K stock for one year.
Lesson Summary
Let's review what we've learned:
Stocks are shares of ownership in one or more companies. Shares of stock refer to the amount of one particular company that someone owns. Dividends are a share of the profits. The public can buy stock and earn dividends from publicly owned companies. The price of a share of stock is dependent on how well the company is doing. Dividends are based on how much profit the company earns. Earnings are made when stocks are sold for a price higher than the price they were bought at.
People buy and sell stocks from the stock exchange through a stock brokerage company. These stock brokerage companies generally charge a fee for their services. Total earnings are calculated by subtracting the purchase price plus brokerage fees of the shares of stock from the amount that is made by selling them and then adding any dividends that were given out. Also, the brokerage fees for selling are also subtracted.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing this lesson, you will be able to:
- Define stocks, shares, and dividends
- Identify the role of stock exchanges and stock brokerage companies
- Explain ways to make money from stock ownership and how to calculate the total earnings
