It really depends on the decision and policies of a company. Certain factors such as the custom of the country will likely also affect the way companies pay dividends to their stockholders. In the United States, dividends are usually paid quarterly for common and preferred stocks and monthly for mutual funds. However, other countries do pay semi-annual dividends.
In reality, companies do what they want. There are no rules regarding when to pay dividends and some don’t even pay them at all when profits are not met or when the company decides to reinvest their profits. On the other hand, it is in the interest of a company to provide dividends to shareholders in order to show that the company is growing and financially strong.
It really depends on the decision and policies of a company. Certain factors such as the custom of the country will likely also affect the way companies pay dividends to their stockholders. In the United States, dividends are usually paid quarterly for common and preferred stocks and monthly for mutual funds. However, other countries do pay semi-annual dividends.
In reality, companies do what they want. There are no rules regarding when to pay dividends and some don’t even pay them at all when profits are not met or when the company decides to reinvest their profits. On the other hand, it is in the interest of a company to provide dividends to shareholders in order to show that the company is growing and financially strong.