common stock

Common Stock

A security that represents ownership in a corporation. Holders of common stock exercise control by electing a board of directors and voting on corporate policy. Common stockholders are on the bottom of the priority ladder for ownership structure. In the event of liquidation common shareholders have rights to a company's assets only after bond holders, preferred shareholders, and other debt holders have been paid in full.

Notes:

If the company goes bankrupt the common stockholders will not receive their money until the creditors and preferred shareholders have received their respective share of the leftover assets. This makes common stock riskier than debt or preferred shares. The upside to common shares is that they usually outperform bonds and preferred shares in the long run.

See also: Board of Directors, Bond, Liquidation, Preferred Stock, Stock

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Common stock

Securities that represent equity ownership in a company. Common shares let an investor vote on such matters as the election of directors. They also give the holder a share in a company's profits via dividend payments or the capital appreciation of the security. Units of ownership of a public corporation with junior status to the claims of secured/unsecured creditors, bondholders and preferred shareholders in the event of liquidation.

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common stock

A class of capital stock that has no preference to dividends or any distribution of assets. Common stock usually conveys voting rights and is often termed capital stock if it is the only class of stock that a firm has outstanding (that is, the firm has neither preferred stock nor multiple classes of common stock). Common stockholders are the residual owners of a corporation in that they have a claim to what remains after every other party has been paid. The value of their claim depends on the success of the firm. See also callable common stock, common stock equivalent, puttable common stock.