On July 15, 2021, Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) declared a dividend payable on September 15, 2021 to its shareholders. Consolidated Edison also announced that shareholders on the company's books on or before August 18, 2021 are entitled to the dividend. The stock will then go ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. Consolidated Edison, which has a current dividend per share of $0.78, has an ex-dividend date scheduled for August 17, 2021. That equates to a dividend yield of 4.24% 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, Consolidated Edison has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and a downward trend regarding its yields. Last year on August 18, 2020 the company's payout was $0.77, which has since grown by $0.01. Consolidated Edison's dividend yield last year was 4.28%, which has since decreased 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.