Thursday's Ex-Dividends To Watch: DUC, JMI, PB, GRMN, TMO

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, 55 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.2% to 16.3%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Highlighted Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Thursday:

Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond

Owners of Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond (NYSE: DUC) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 7 cents per share. At a price of $10.13 as of 3:59 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 8.3%.

The average volume for Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond has been 70,200 shares per day over the past 30 days. Duff & Phelps Utility & Corporate Bond has a market cap of $277.4 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are down 17% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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The company has a P/E ratio of 13.82.

JAVELIN Mortgage Investment

Owners of JAVELIN Mortgage Investment (NYSE: JMI) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 15 cents per share. At a price of $12.79 as of 4:01 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 14.5%.

The average volume for JAVELIN Mortgage Investment has been 269,800 shares per day over the past 30 days. JAVELIN Mortgage Investment has a market cap of $167.8 million and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are down 34.4% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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

Prosperity

Owners of Prosperity (NASDAQ: PB) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 24 cents per share. At a price of $62.61 as of 4:02 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.5%.

The average volume for Prosperity has been 332,100 shares per day over the past 30 days. Prosperity has a market cap of $4.2 billion and is part of the banking industry. Shares are up 50.6% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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

Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Prosperity Bank that provides a range of financial products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, and consumers in Texas. The company has a P/E ratio of 17.91.

TheStreet Ratings rates Prosperity as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, growth in earnings per share, compelling growth in net income, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow. You can view the full Prosperity Ratings Report now.

Garmin

Owners of Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 45 cents per share. At a price of $48.95 as of 4:00 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 3.7%.

The average volume for Garmin has been 1.4 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Garmin has a market cap of $9.5 billion and is part of the electronics industry. Shares are up 19.8% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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Garmin Ltd. is a worldwide provider of navigation, communications and information devices, most of which are enabled by global positioning system (GPS) technology. The company has a P/E ratio of 16.61.

TheStreet Ratings rates Garmin as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations, increase in stock price during the past year and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity. You can view the full Garmin Ratings Report now.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Owners of Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 15 cents per share. At a price of $101.93 as of 4:03 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 0.6%.

The average volume for Thermo Fisher Scientific has been 1.5 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a market cap of $37.1 billion and is part of the health services industry. Shares are up 60% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Monday.

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

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides analytical instruments, equipment, reagents and consumables, software, and services for research, manufacture, analysis, discovery, and diagnostics. The company has a P/E ratio of 28.29.

TheStreet Ratings rates Thermo Fisher Scientific as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels, growth in earnings per share and expanding profit margins. Although the company may harbor some minor weaknesses, we feel they are unlikely to have a significant impact on results. You can view the full Thermo Fisher Scientific Ratings Report now.

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.
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