On May 11, 2021, Loews (NYSE:L) declared a dividend payable on June 8, 2021 to its shareholders. Loews also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before May 26, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Loews, whose current dividend payout is $0.06, has an ex-dividend date set at May 25, 2021. The payout equates to a dividend yield of 0.43% at current price levels.

An ex-dividend date signals when a company's shares cease to trade with its current dividend payout. There is a small intermission period before the company announces a new dividend. 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, Loews has seen its dividend payouts remain the same and its yields trend downward. Last year on November 24, 2020 the company's payout sat at $0.06, which has returned to its value today. Loews's dividend yield last year was 0.57%, which has since decreased by 0.14%.
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.