Universal Health Realty (NYSE:UHT) declared a dividend payable on December 31, 2020 to its shareholders as of December 2, 2020. It was also announced that shareholders of Universal Health Realty's stock as of December 17, 2020 are entitled to the dividend. The stock is expected to become ex-dividend 1 business day(s) before the record date. The ex-dividend date for Universal Health Realty will be on December 16, 2020. The company's current dividend payout is at $0.69. That equates to a dividend yield of 4.45% at current price levels.

An ex-dividend date signals when a company's shares cease to trade with its current dividend payout. There is a small intermission period before the company announces a new dividend. Usually, a company's ex-dividend date falls one business day before its record date. Investors should keep this in mind when purchasing stocks because buying them on or after ex-dividend dates does not qualify them to receive the declared payment. Newly declared dividends go to shareholders who have owned that stock before the ex-dividend date. Typically, companies will announce and implement new dividend yields on a quarterly basis.

Over the past year, Universal Health Realty has experienced an overall upward trend regarding its dividend payouts and yields. Last year on December 17, 2019 the company's payout was $0.69, which has since grown by $0.01. Similarly, Universal Health Realty's dividend yield in last year was 2.28%, which has since grown by 2.17%.
Companies use dividend yields in different strategic ways. Some companies may opt to not give yields altogether to reinvest in themselves. Other companies may opt to increase or decrease their yield amounts to control how their shares circulate throughout the stock market.