How To Read A Stock Table

In order to track your investments properly and become a responsible shareholder it is crucial that you be able to read and understand how a stock table works.  There are numerous places to locate a stock table as it will be appear in any financial newspaper or on the ticker of a number of large media and financial outlets.

There is even specific television, radio and internet websites dedicated to finance and keeping consumers up-to-date on their stock prices and investment holdings.

Column 1 & 2-Week High And Low

While these columns will not include information for trading during the previous day, it does display the high and low prices of stock over the past year, which can be an important indicator for potential investors.

Column 3-Company Name & Type Of Stock

This is where the business can be identified.  If the stock concerned has no letters following its acronym then it is safe to assume that you are dealing with a common stock.  However, if the stock falls under the preferred category, it will be indicated this way on the table and under this column.

Column 4-Ticker Symbol

This column provides a symbol that enables the reader to know what type of stock they are studying, presently.  All of the previously mentioned mediums for reading the stock table will disseminate final prices in accordance with these symbols when you choose to study a table through the television, radio or internet.

Column 5-Divident Per Share

Here you will find the value of the dividends that these shares pay to holders.  Sometimes this column will appear blank, which is indicative of no dividends being paid to shareholders at the present time.

Column 6-Divdend Yield

This column will provide you with a percentage figure for the margin of return in dividends from your investment.  This may help you to conceptualize the value of your investments.

Column 7-Price / Earnings Ratio

In order to calculate the figures in this column you will need to divide the current value of the stock by the dividends earned in the quarters that comprise a fiscal year.

Column 8-Trading Volume

This column demonstrates the sheer volume of stock traded on the market during any given day.  This allows you to place your specific investments within the broad performance of market indicators.

Column 9 &10-Day High And Low

Under these columns, you will be able to determine the highest and lowest ranges for which a particular stock has been traded during that single day.

Column 11-Close

This is where you will find the price for the last recorded stock trade.  When final pricing fluctuates beyond five per cent in either direction from the initial trading price then you will see these numbers emphasized.  Therefore, this column can serve as a litmus test for anticipating costs.

Column 12-Net Change

Here you will come to understand the change in stock value during the day before up until the present day.  Sometimes the activity of the stock will be referred to as having gone up or down for a day, which reflects positive and negative changes, respectively.