03/03/2017
What is a Stock?
A stock represents a share in the ownership of a company. If you own a company’s stock, then you are an owner or shareholder of the company. Shares, equity, or stock mean the same thing.
A stock represents a claim on the company’s assets and profits. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater. To calculate the ownership you have in a company in percentage form, you divide the number of shares you own by the number of shares outstanding and multiply by 100. For example, if you own 1,000 shares, and there are 10,000 shares outstanding, it translates to a 10% ownership of the company.
Ownership of a stock is shown by a stock certificate. Stock certificates represent ownership in companies. Due to technology, when you buy shares now, you usually do not get the actual stock certificate any more. Instead your ownership is traded electronically, making it easier to buy and sell shares.
There are two ways to make profit from a stock, through capital appreciation and dividends. Capital appreciation here simply means you gain/profit when the price goes higher than the price you bought it at. Dividends are a percentage of the company’s profits which are paid to shareholders.
Generally a stockholder has proportionate voting right in the election of the company’s board of directors. As a shareholder, you are entitled to receive quarterly reports and an annual report informing you of the financial health of the company. You will be invited to attend the annual shareholders’ meeting every year. Most companies use the one to one vote system. Every vote counts.
Another extremely important feature of stocks is its limited liability, which means if the company was to go bankrupt, you will not be held responsible for paying the company’s debts even though you are an owner/shareholder.