American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) declared a dividend payable on July 23, 2021 to its shareholders as of June 3, 2021. It was also announced that shareholders of American Eagle Outfitters's stock as of July 9, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. American Eagle Outfitters, which has a current dividend per share of $0.18, has an ex-dividend date scheduled for July 8, 2021. That equates to a dividend yield of 2.14% 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, American Eagle Outfitters has seen its dividend payouts climb upward and its yields trend downward. Last year on January 2, 2020 the company's payout sat at $0.14, which has since increased by $0.04. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend yield last year was 3.76%, which has since decreased by 1.62%.
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.