What is Cumulative Preferred Stock?

Cumulative Preferred stockholders get a fixed dividend rate irrespective of the profit marginProfit MarginProfit Margin is a metric that the management, financial analysts, & investors use to measure the profitability of a business relative to its sales. It is determined as the ratio of Generated Profit Amount to the Generated Revenue Amount. read more; this means they are not participating in the company’s profits. The benefit of these stocks is that in case of a financial crisis, if the company cannot declare the dividend, then the dividend amount will accumulate and will get paid in the future whenever the company declares the dividendDeclares The DividendDividend declared is that portion of profits earned that the company’s board of directors decides to pay off as dividends to the shareholders of such company in return to the investment done by the shareholders through the purchase of the company’s securities.read more.

You are free to use this image on you website, templates, etc., Please provide us with an attribution linkHow to Provide Attribution?Article Link to be HyperlinkedFor eg:Source: Cumulative Preferred Stock (wallstreetmojo.com)

Example

The company has not declared dividends in the last four years due to the financial crisisFinancial CrisisThe term “financial crisis” refers to a situation in which the market’s key financial assets experience a sharp decline in market value over a relatively short period of time, or when leading businesses are unable to pay their enormous debt, or when financing institutions face a liquidity crunch and are unable to return money to depositors, all of which cause panic in the capital markets and among investors.read more. For the last four years, the dividends for the cumulative preferred stockholders were $20 each year, which was unpaid.

The business in the 5th year was great, so the management declared a dividend to its shareholders. However, the company will have to pay $80 to the cumulative preferred stockholders first, and then they are allowed to distribute the dividends to the common shareholders.

Advantages

  • The cumulative preferred stocks are safe and secure regarding financial safety among all other stocks available in the market. The reason behind the same is that they will always get their dividend irrespective of the company’s bad performance.These stockholders are privileged to get the dividends before any other company stockholder.In an unpleasant situation of liquidationLiquidationLiquidation is the process of winding up a business or a segment of the business by selling off its assets. The amount realized by this is used to pay off the creditors and all other liabilities of the business in a specific order.read more of the company, the cumulative preferred stockholders get the settlement at the earliest compared to other stockholders.The company should give the cumulative preferred stockholder the right to demand the dividend in case of financial failure. If the dividends are not paid at that time, then the dividends are accumulated in accounts and are paid afterward to the cumulative preferred stockholders when things are normal for the company.Such stockholdersStockholdersA stockholder is a person, company, or institution who owns one or more shares of a company. They are the company’s owners, but their liability is limited to the value of their shares.read more may get a higher rate of return in case the company gets a good year.

Disadvantages

  • The biggest disadvantage is that they don’t enjoy voting rights compared to other stockholders.Such shareholders will always get the fixed dividend irrespective of the profit earned during the year. In contrast, other stockholders will get the dividend payment per the company’s profits.It is more costly than any other stocks available in the market since the cumulative preferred stock carries some extra privileges.They may get partial or delayed dividend payments from the company.The dividends are fixed, but in the case of any other stocks like debts, the management will have to pay the debt interest to the holder as well, and there cannot be any delay in the payment of the same.These stockholders cannot claim dividends in the middle of the year. They are not allowed interim dividends; they are only paid yearly.

This has been a guide to what is cumulative preferred stock. Here we discuss how it works, examples, advantages, and disadvantages. You can learn more about financing from the following articles –

  • Callable Preferred StockParticipating Preferred StockPreferred Dividend