Getting Paid to Wait: Dividends
Some companies share profits with shareholders directly, in cash, on a schedule.
A dividend is a cash payment a company sends to shareholders - usually quarterly - as a direct way of sharing profits, separate from whatever the stock price is doing.
Dividend yield expresses that payment as a percentage of the current stock price, which makes it easy to roughly compare 'cash income' across different stocks (a 4% yield pays roughly 4x more per dollar invested than a 1% yield, all else equal).
Not every company pays one - fast-growing companies often reinvest everything back into the business instead. A dividend isn't automatically 'better'; it's a different profile (income now vs. growth later).
JNJ is a well-known dividend payer. Check its Financials panel for its dividend-related figures alongside its other Key Metrics.
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