Thursday's Ex-Dividends To Watch: HRZN, ERC, ESRT, SLCA, MJN

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:

Horizon Technology Finance

Owners of Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ: HRZN) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 12 cents per share. At a price of $14.20 as of 4:00 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 9.8%.

The average volume for Horizon Technology Finance has been 40,600 shares per day over the past 30 days. Horizon Technology Finance has a market cap of $135.8 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are down 5.1% 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.

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a specialty finance company, lends to and invests in development-stage companies in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 11.61.

TheStreet Ratings rates Horizon Technology Finance as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, expanding profit margins and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself and disappointing return on equity. You can view the full Horizon Technology Finance Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

WELLS FARGO ADVANTAGE MULTI-SEC INC FD

Owners of WELLS FARGO ADVANTAGE MULTI-SEC INC FD (AMEX: ERC) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 10 cents per share. At a price of $13.98 as of 4:00 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 8.6%.

The average volume for WELLS FARGO ADVANTAGE MULTI-SEC INC FD has been 157,300 shares per day over the past 30 days. WELLS FARGO ADVANTAGE MULTI-SEC INC FD has a market cap of $585.8 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are down 13.8% 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.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Empire State Realty

Owners of Empire State Realty (NYSE: ESRT) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 8 cents per share. At a price of $14.46 as of 4:00 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 0.6%.

The average volume for Empire State Realty has been 1.3 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Empire State Realty has a market cap of $1.4 billion and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are unchanged 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.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

US Silica Holdings

Owners of US Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 12 cents per share. At a price of $34.59 as of 4:03 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.4%.

The average volume for US Silica Holdings has been 1.7 million shares per day over the past 30 days. US Silica Holdings has a market cap of $1.9 billion and is part of the metals & mining industry. Shares are up 110.6% 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.

U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, processing, and sale of commercial silica in the United States. It operates in two segments, Oil & Gas Proppants and Industrial & Specialty Products. The company has a P/E ratio of 23.34.

TheStreet Ratings rates US Silica Holdings as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, solid stock price performance and growth in earnings per share. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and weak operating cash flow. You can view the full US Silica Holdings Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Company

Owners of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 34 cents per share. At a price of $85.00 as of 4:02 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.6%.

The average volume for Mead Johnson Nutrition Company has been 1.5 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Mead Johnson Nutrition Company has a market cap of $17.3 billion and is part of the food & beverage industry. Shares are up 29.8% 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.

Mead Johnson Nutrition Company manufactures, distributes, and sells infant formulas, children's nutrition, and other nutritional products. The company has a P/E ratio of 27.61.

TheStreet Ratings rates Mead Johnson Nutrition Company as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, growth in earnings per share, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value. You can view the full Mead Johnson Nutrition Company 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.