You could improve your return by selling the share instead of waiting for the dividend payout—but there are caveats. I was recently asked an interesting question about dividends.  The person concerned was curious as to whether—from a tax and return perspective—it is better to take the dividend itself, or sell the share and take the profit prior to the dividend payout. It is therefore important to understand how the declaration and subsequent payment of a dividend impact the share price, all else being equal. The easiest way to explain how this works is through a real-life example—that of thermal coal […]