On May 20, 2021, Cato (NYSE:CATO) declared a dividend payable on June 21, 2021 to its shareholders. Cato also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before June 7, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. The ex-dividend date for Cato will be on June 4, 2021. The company's current dividend payout is at $0.11. That equates to a dividend yield of 3.09% at current price levels.

Ex-dividend dates signal when company shares cease to trade with their current dividend payouts. There is a small intermission period before companies announce new dividends. 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, Cato has seen its dividend payouts and yields descend downward overall. Last year on June 7, 2019 the company's payout sat at $0.33, which has since decreased by $0.22. Cato's dividend yield last year was 10.0%, which has since declined by 6.91%.
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.