Ex-Dividend Alert: 5 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: HAV, GUT, MMT, HR, TJX

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Tomorrow, Nov. 12, 2013, 55 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.5% to 20.5%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Highlighted Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow:

Helios Advantage Income Fund

Owners of Helios Advantage Income Fund (NYSE: HAV) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 6 cents per share. At a price of $8.81 as of 9:33 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 8.5%.

The average volume for Helios Advantage Income Fund has been 27,900 shares per day over the past 30 days. Helios Advantage Income Fund has a market cap of $58.1 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 2.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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The company has a P/E ratio of 0.93.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Gabelli Utility

Owners of Gabelli Utility (NYSE: GUT) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 5 cents per share. At a price of $6.50 as of 9:29 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 9.3%.

The average volume for Gabelli Utility has been 83,500 shares per day over the past 30 days. Shares are up 4.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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The company has a P/E ratio of 35.83.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

MFS Multi-Market Income Fund

Owners of MFS Multi-Market Income Fund (NYSE: MMT) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 4 cents per share. At a price of $6.55 as of 4:06 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 6.8%.

The average volume for MFS Multi-Market Income Fund has been 198,500 shares per day over the past 30 days. MFS Multi-Market Income Fund has a market cap of $517.3 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are down 9.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Healthcare Realty

Owners of Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 30 cents per share. At a price of $22.85 as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 5.1%.

The average volume for Healthcare Realty has been 522,500 shares per day over the past 30 days. Healthcare Realty has a market cap of $2.2 billion and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are down 2.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

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Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated is an independent real estate investment trust. The firm invests in real estate markets of the United States.

TheStreet Ratings rates Healthcare Realty as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth and increase in stock price during the past year. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and poor profit margins. You can view the full Healthcare Realty Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

TJX Companies

Owners of TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 14 cents per share. At a price of $61.58 as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1%.

The average volume for TJX Companies has been 3.0 million shares per day over the past 30 days. TJX Companies has a market cap of $43.4 billion and is part of the retail industry. Shares are up 42.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday.

STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more.

The TJX Companies, Inc. operates as an off-price apparel and home fashions retailer in the United States and internationally. The company operates in four segments: Marmaxx, HomeGoods, TJX Canada, and TJX Europe. The company has a P/E ratio of 22.28.

TheStreet Ratings rates TJX Companies as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, revenue growth, notable return on equity and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow. You can view the full TJX Companies Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

More About Dividends:

One benefit of owning a stock is the potential that you will be paid a dividend. The distribution of dividend payments is another way for a company to share its profit with you. A dividend means that the company pays you a certain amount of money, either as a one-time payment or more commonly on a quarterly basis, for each share of stock you own.

Many times, dividends come at the expense of greater price appreciation, because the company is distributing its profits to shareholders rather than reinvesting the profits back into the growth of the company. However, companies that pay dividends can be very attractive to investors when they offer a steady stream of income. There are some important terms and dates an investor should be familiar with before purchasing any dividend-paying companies. Let's work through an example to help better explain some of these terms:

On March 1, ABC Widget Company has decided that because it holds excess cash and lacks investment opportunities, it would like to reward shareholders with a regular quarterly dividend payment. The date for this particular announcement is known as the declaration date. It is on this date that the company announces the specific dividend payment along with the holder of record date (aka record date) and the payment date. The company announces that a dividend payment of 25 cents per share will be payable March 31, 2012 (the payment date) to all shareholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2012 (holder of record date). What does this all mean? Well the short story is that the company looks at its records on March 16 and anyone listed on the books as an owner of ABC Widget company will be eligible for the dividend payment (on March 31).

The one other important term to remember is the ex-dividend date. The ex-dividend date (typically two trading days before the holder of record date for U.S. securities) is the day in which a company begins trading without the dividend. In order to have a claim on a dividend, shares must be purchased no later than the last business day before the ex-dividend date. A company trading ex-dividend will have the upcoming dividend subtracted from the share price at the start of the trading day. Many times, the price of a stock will increase in anticipation of the upcoming dividend as the ex-dividend date approaches, yet will fall back by the amount of the dividend on the ex-dividend date.

• See our dividend calendar.