Dividend per share represents the total amount of dividends a company pays to its shareholders for a given period (1 year in general) per outstanding share in the company. The dividend per share (DPS) formula is: DPS = Total Declared Dividends/Total Number of Outstanding Shares. Note that the “Total Declared Dividends” does not include special dividends. For example, if a company paid $100,000 in dividends (including interim dividends), plus $25,000 in special dividends over the past 12 months, and has 1 million outstanding shares then the dividend per share would be (100,000-25,000)/1,000,000 or $0.075 per share.
Related Terms: Dividend – Dividend Yield – Dividend Declaration Date – Dividend Payment Date – Dividend Record Date – Ex-Dividend Date – Common Stocks