Tomorrow's Ex-Dividends To Watch: SBW, MMU, HIX

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Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18, 2014, 4:00 AM ET, 46 U.S. common stocks are scheduled to go ex-dividend. The dividend yields on these stocks range from 0.3% to 9.9%. All of these stocks can be found on our stocks going ex-dividend section of our dividend calendar.

Highlighted Stocks Going Ex-Dividend Tomorrow:

Western Asset Worldwide Income Fund

Owners of Western Asset Worldwide Income Fund (NYSE: SBW) shares, as of market close today, will be eligible for a dividend of 8 cents per share. At a price of $13.13 as of 9:30 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 7.7%.

The average volume for Western Asset Worldwide Income Fund has been 35,300 shares per day over the past 30 days. Western Asset Worldwide Income Fund has a market cap of $170.4 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 7.5% 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.

The company has a P/E ratio of 10.91.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Western Asset Managed Municipals Portfolio

Owners of Western Asset Managed Municipals Portfolio (NYSE: MMU) shares, as of market close today, will be eligible for a dividend of 6 cents per share. At a price of $12.89 as of 3:59 p.m. ET, the dividend yield is 6%.

The average volume for Western Asset Managed Municipals Portfolio has been 73,400 shares per day over the past 30 days. Western Asset Managed Municipals Portfolio has a market cap of $553.9 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 5.8% 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 company has a P/E ratio of 21.58.

• See our top-yielding stocks list.

Western Asset High Income Fund II

Owners of Western Asset High Income Fund II (NYSE: HIX) shares, as of market close today, will be eligible for a dividend of 7 cents per share. At a price of $9.47 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 8.7%.

The average volume for Western Asset High Income Fund II has been 181,200 shares per day over the past 30 days. Western Asset High Income Fund II has a market cap of $816.0 million and is part of the financial services industry. Shares are up 4.9% 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.

The company has a P/E ratio of 9.28.

• 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.