Eaton Vance Municipal (AMEX:EIM) declared a dividend payable on May 28, 2021 to its shareholders as of May 3, 2021. It was also announced that shareholders of Eaton Vance Municipal's stock as of May 21, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Eaton Vance Municipal, which has a current dividend per share of $0.05, has an ex-dividend date scheduled for May 20, 2021. That equates to a dividend yield of 4.42% at current price levels.

An ex-dividend date is when a company's shares stop trading with its current dividend payout in preparation for the company to announce a new one. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Most ex-dividend dates operate on a quarterly basis.

Over the past year, Eaton Vance Municipal has seen its dividend payouts remain the same and its yields climb upward overall. Last year on January 21, 2021 the company's payout sat at $0.05, which has returned to its value today. Eaton Vance Municipal's dividend yield last year was 4.38%, which has since grown by 0.04%.
Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.