What are some common abbreviations and definitions associated with preferred shares?

A, Ann. Annual dividend payments

Cl., Class Issuers with more than one category of preferred share may identify a  given class with alphabetic markers, such as class A or class B.

Convert. Convertible

Cum Cumulative

CUSIP: Is the acronym for Committee on Uniform Securities Identification  Procedures. Every publically traded security is assigned a unique  number that can be used to identify the issuing company and the  security type.

Div., divd Dividends

Ex-Dividend This refers to the date when a preferred share no longer carries with it  the entitlement to the most recently declared dividend. Typically, a  purchase or sale settlement date immediately after the Record Date.

Exchange Exchangeable

Exchanges: Indicates the specific stock exchange(s) where the preferred  shares are purchased and sold (traded). Typically, the Toronto  Stock Exchange for Canadian Preferred shares.

F.R. Floating dividend rate

Issued The number of shares originally issued

Lead Underwriters  The company that advised the issuer and led the sales effort when  the shares were initially sold to investors.

Liquidity Refers to the ease with which shares can be purchased and sold at a  certain price. The greater the number of shares that trade in a day, the  greater the liquidity. Some preferred share issues trade between ten  and twenty thousand shares per day and others might only trade one to  two hundred.

M Monthly dividend payments

Non-cum Non-Cumulative

O/S The number of preferred shares currently outstanding.

par value Is the stated face value of the preferred share, typically, $25.00.

Pay Date The date the issuer makes the dividend payment to shareholders.

Pfd., pref. Preferred share

Pfce. Preference share

Private Placement   Denotes preferred shares that have been issued and held privately.  These do not have a CUSIP number, and nor a trading symbol.

Q  Quarterly dividend payments

Rating The preferred share’s credit rating

Record Date When dividends are declared by the issuer’s Board of Directors,  the dividend will be payable only to those shareholders owning the  shares on a certain date. The date is referred to as the Record date.

Redeem. Redeemable

Registrar The company responsible for maintaining the shareholder ownership  records. Typically, the Transfer Agent and the Registrar are the same  company.

Reset Resettable dividend rate

Ret., retract Retractable

Der., Series Refers to the series number/letter assigned to each preferred  share issued by a corporation.

S, semi. Semi-annual dividend payments

Settlement Date For preferred shares, just like common shares, purchases or sales  require to be paid for on the third business day after the trade  date.

Sh. Shares

Symbol The stock market symbol for the preferred share.

Trade Date The date the purchase or sale of a preferred share is made or  contracted. This differs from the settlement date.

Transfer agent The company responsible for share ownership charges

US$ Denotes a preferred share that is issued in U.S. dollars. Dividends are  paid in US dollars.

V.R. Variable dividend rate

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