Meaning / Definition of

Dilution

Categories: Fundamental Analysis, Legal, ,

Dilution occurs when a company issues additional shares of stock, and as a result the earnings per share and the book value per share decline. This happens because earnings per share and book value per share are calculated by dividing the total earnings or book value by the number of existing shares. The larger the number of shares, the lower the value of each share. Lower earnings per share may trigger a selloff in the stock, lowering its price. That's one reason a company may choose to issue bonds rather than new stock to raise additional capital.Similarly, if companies merge or one buys another, earnings may be diluted if they don't increase proportionately with the combined number of shares in the newly created company.Dilution can also occur if warrants and stock options on a stock are exercised, and if convertible bonds and preferred stock the company issued are converted to common stock. Companies must report the worst-case potential for such dilution, or loss of value, to their shareholders as diluted earnings per share.

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Definition / Meaning of

Preference Shares

Categories: Stocks, Fundamental Analysis, Accounting,

capital stock which provides a specific dividend that is paid before any dividends are paid to common stock holders, and which takes precedence over common stock in the event of a liquidation. Like common stock, preference shares represent partial ownership in a company, although preferred stock shareholders do not enjoy any of the voting rights of common stockholders. Also unlike common stock, preference shares pay a fixed dividend that does not fluctuate, although the company does not have to pay this dividend if it lacks the financial ability to do so. The main benefit to owning preference shares are that the investor has a greater claim on the company's assets than common stockholders. Preferred shareholders always receive their dividends first and, in the event the company goes bankrupt, preferred shareholders are paid off before common stockholders. In general, there are four different types of preferred stock: cumulative preferred stock, non-cumulative preferred stock, participating preferred stock, and convertible preferred stock. also called preferred stock.

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Dilution

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Preference Shares

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