Ex-Dividend Alert: 3 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: VSH, CXP, ROC

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.

Tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, 5:00 AM ET, 49 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.2% to 14.8%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Highlighted Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow:

Vishay Intertechnology

Owners of Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE: VSH) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 6 cents per share. At a price of $14.16 as of 9:40 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.7%.

The average volume for Vishay Intertechnology has been 1.0 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Vishay Intertechnology has a market cap of $1.9 billion and is part of the electronics industry. Shares are up 4.5% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

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

Vishay Intertechnology Inc. designs, manufactures, and supplies discrete semiconductors and passive components. The company operates in five segments: MOSFETs, Diodes, Optoelectronic Components, Resistors & Inductors, and Capacitors. The company has a P/E ratio of 17.11.

TheStreet Ratings rates Vishay Intertechnology as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations 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 Vishay Intertechnology Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Columbia Property

Owners of Columbia Property (NYSE: CXP) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 30 cents per share. At a price of $26.43 as of 9:39 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 4.7%.

The average volume for Columbia Property has been 894,500 shares per day over the past 30 days. Columbia Property has a market cap of $3.2 billion and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are up 2.9% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

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

The company has a P/E ratio of 135.37.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Rockwood Holdings

Owners of Rockwood Holdings (NYSE: ROC) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 45 cents per share. At a price of $78.07 as of 9:40 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 2.4%.

The average volume for Rockwood Holdings has been 638,800 shares per day over the past 30 days. Rockwood Holdings has a market cap of $5.4 billion and is part of the chemicals industry. Shares are up 6.5% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

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

The company has a P/E ratio of 26.72.

• 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.