The following announcement appeared on the financial page of a newspaper: The Board of Directors of Benton

Question:

The following announcement appeared on the financial page of a newspaper: The Board of Directors of Benton Co., at its meeting on June 15, 2011, declared the regular quarterly on outstanding of $1.40 per share, payable on July 10, 2011, to the stockholders of record at the close of business June 30, 2011.
(a) What is the purpose of each of the three dates given in the announcement?
(b) When would the of Benton Co. normally trade “ex-dividend”?

Common Stock
Common stock is an equity component that represents the worth of stock owned by the shareholders of the company. The common stock represents the par value of the shares outstanding at a balance sheet date. Public companies can trade their stocks on... Dividend
A dividend is a distribution of a portion of company’s earnings, decided and managed by the company’s board of directors, and paid to the shareholders. Dividends are given on the shares. It is a token reward paid to the shareholders for their...