On July 16, 2021, Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) declared a dividend payable on August 11, 2021 to its shareholders. Value Line also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before July 26, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Value Line has an ex-dividend date set for for July 23, 2021. The company's current dividend payout is $0.22, which equates to a dividend yield of 2.74% 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, Value Line has seen its dividend payouts climb upward and its yields trend downward. Last year on July 24, 2020 the company's payout sat at $0.21, which has since increased by $0.01. Value Line's dividend yield last year was 3.33%, which has since decreased by 0.59%.
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.