Its Dividend Day (DIVY)

[The Virtual Cat]

The ex-date was Aug. 29th so as long as you owned shares at the close of market on the 28th you are entitled to the dividend. If you sold your shares before the close of market on Aug. 28th, or if you didn't buy until Aug. 29th, then you don't get the dividend.

Officially they say the dividend is paid to holders of record on Aug. 31th, but that's just another way of saying if you bought on the 28th it takes 3 days for the trade to settle. A purchase on the 29th---the ex-date---wouldn't settle until a day after the 31th, hence no dividend.

The key point is that one needs to own the stock at market close the day before the ex-date. In fact, you could have bought AAV at 3:45pm on the 28th and sold it at 9:15am on the 29th and you would still get the dividend.