Common stock

(noun)

Shares of an ownership interest in the equity of a corporation or other entity with limited liability entitled to dividends, with financial rights junior to preferred stock and liabilities.

Related Terms

  • minority interest
  • Preferred Stock
  • par value

Examples of Common stock in the following topics:

  • Owners' Equity

    • Ownership equity may include common stock, preferred stock, retained earnings, treasury stock, and reserve.
    • In an accounting context, shareholders' equity (or stockholders' equity, shareholders' funds, shareholders' capital or similar terms) represents the remaining interest in assets of a company, spread among individual shareholders of common or preferred stock.
  • Equity Finance

    • The equity, or capital stock (or stock) of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders.
    • Ownership of shares is documented by the issuance of a stock certificate.
    • Stock typically takes the form of either common or preferred.
    • As a unit of ownership, common stock typically carries voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions.
    • Preferred stock differs from common stock in that it typically does not carry voting rights but is legally entitled to receive a certain level of dividend payments before any dividends can be issued to other shareholders.
  • Net Income

    • The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense (interest expense), and minority interest.Likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense.
    • Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings.
  • Publicly Held Corporations

    • It is partially owned by the government because all its preferred stock is under government ownership while its common stock is held by the public.
    • However, the line beyond which a corporation must be considered "state-owned" is unclear, as governments can also own regular stock and have no special influence over business.
  • Forms of Financial Compensation

    • Different companies offer different types of stock options to their employees, allowing them to buy company stock at a discounted price.
    • Different companies offer different types of stock options to their employees, allowing them to buy company stock at a discounted price.
    • An employee stock option (ESO) is a call option on the common stock of a company, granted by the company to an employee as part of the employee's remuneration package.
    • Employee stock options are mostly offered to management as part of their executive compensation package.
    • Employee stock options are similar to warrants, which are call options issued by a company with respect to its own stock.
  • The stems of growing startups: definitions of “startup stakeholder arrow” selected terms

    • A venture capitalist does not make any money until the new venture sells, merges or makes an initial public offering known as an IPO when for the first time that business offers common stocks to the public.
    • Angel Investors choose to invest in your startup because they share a common interest in what you are doing.
    • Shareholders: A person who owns or holds stock in a business.
    • Vesting: Vesting occurs when a person associated with a business venture is granted legally the right to possess stock-options if they work for a specified term.
    • By way of example a person's stock options could vest over a three year period with the person earning stock-options incrementally and fully vesting in all the promised stock-options at the completion of the three year term.
  • Employee Ownership

    • Through providing employees a stake in the company, be it through shares of stock, variable income models, or through partnerships or coops, each employee will have a direct stake in the financial and operational success of the organization.
    • Some of the more common methods include:
    • Stock Options – Perhaps the simplest and most common example of shared ownership would be stock options.
    • Many publicly traded organizations offer stock options to some or all of their employees.
    • When the company performs well, it is likely that the stock price will increase and the shares each employee holds will appreciate in value.
  • Ownership of Corporations

    • A person can decide to become an owner in a company by investing in the company's stock.
    • For example, someone might choose to buy shares of Apple stock in the stock market.
    • In a joint-stock company, the members are known as shareholders and their share in the ownership, control, and profits of the corporation is determined by their portion of shares.
    • A single committee or board of directors is the method favored in most common law countries.
    • A two-tiered committee structure with a supervisory board and a managing board is common in civil law countries.
  • Performance per Share

    • The below ratios describe the value of shares of stock to stockholders, both in terms of dividends and their general ownership value:
    • Earnings Per Share (EPS) is the amount of earnings per each outstanding share of a company's stock.
    • EPS = Net Income / Average Common Shares.
    • A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying more for each unit of net income; therefore, the stock is more expensive compared to one with a lower P/E ratio.
    • Dividend Yield ratio shows the earnings distributed to stockholders related to the value of the stock, as calculated on a per-share basis.
  • Materials Handling

    • These include capturing all relevant data related to the warehouse's operation (such as the stock keeping unit (SKU)), measuring how many times an item is "touched" from the time it is ordered until it leaves the building, making sure you are using the proper picking technology, and keeping system downtime to a minimum.
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