Share (finance)
A share is a single unit of ownership in a corporation, mutual fund, or any other organization. A joint stock company divides its capital into shares, which are offered for sale to raise capital, termed as issuing shares. Thus, a share is an indivisible unit of capital, expressing the proprietary relationship between the company and the shareholder. The denominated value of a share is its face value: the total capital of a company is divided into a number of shares.
In financial markets, a share is a unit of account for various financial instruments including stocks (ordinary or preferential), and investments in limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. The common feature of all these is equity participation (limited in the case of preference shares).
The income received from shares is known as a dividend. A shareholder, also known as a stockholder, is a person who owns shares of a certain company or organization, and is thus a part-owner of the company. The process of purchasing and selling shares often involves going through a stockbroker as a middle man.
Read more about Share (finance): Valuation, Tax Treatment, Stock Certificates
Famous quotes containing the word share:
“Without our suffering, our work would just be social work, very good and helpful, but it would not be the work of Jesus Christ, not part of the Redemption.... All the desolation of the poor people, not only their material poverty, but their spiritual destitution, must be redeemed. And we must share it, for only by being one with them can we redeem them by bringing God into their lives and bringing them to God.”
—Mother Teresa (b. 1910)