Ex-Dividends To Watch: 3 Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow: WRI, NLSN, ANF

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, Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 5:00 AM ET, 8 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.7% to 11.4%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Highlighted Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow:

Weingarten Realty Investors

Owners of Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 32 cents per share. At a price of $30.49 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 4.2%.

The average volume for Weingarten Realty Investors has been 810,700 shares per day over the past 30 days. Weingarten Realty Investors has a market cap of $3.7 billion and is part of the real estate industry. Shares are up 11.2% 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.

Weingarten Realty Investors is a publically owned equity real estate investment trust. The firm invests in the real estate markets of United States. The firm engages in ownership, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment. The company has a P/E ratio of 39.90.

TheStreet Ratings rates Weingarten Realty Investors as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, expanding profit margins, increase in stock price during the past year and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. You can view the full Weingarten Realty Investors Ratings Report now.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Nielsen Holdings

Owners of Nielsen Holdings (NYSE: NLSN) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 20 cents per share. At a price of $46.98 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 1.7%.

The average volume for Nielsen Holdings has been 2.4 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Nielsen Holdings has a market cap of $17.7 billion and is part of the computer software & services industry. Shares are up 3.2% 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.

Nielsen Holdings N.V., an information and measurement company, provides media and marketing information, analytics, and industry expertise about what consumers watch and listen on a global and local basis. The company operates in two segments, Buy and Watch. The company has a P/E ratio of 41.07.

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

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Abercrombie & Fitch Company

Owners of Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE: ANF) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 20 cents per share. At a price of $39.22 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 2.1%.

The average volume for Abercrombie & Fitch Company has been 3.2 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Abercrombie & Fitch Company has a market cap of $3.0 billion and is part of the retail industry. Shares are up 20.4% 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.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of casual apparel for men, women, and kids. It operates through three segments: U.S. Stores, International Stores, and Direct-to-Consumer. The company has a P/E ratio of 56.35.

TheStreet Ratings rates Abercrombie & Fitch Company as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity. You can view the full Abercrombie & Fitch 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.