What Is a Fractional Share?
什么是零股?
Less than one full share of equity is called a fractional share. Such shares may be the result of stock splits, dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs), or similar corporate actions. Typically, fractional shares aren't available from the stock market, and while they have value to investors, they are also difficult to sell.
少于一整股的股本称为零股。此类股份可能是股票分拆、股息再投资计划(DRIPs)或类似公司行为的结果。通常情况下,零股在股市上是买不到的,尽管它们对投资者有价值,但也很难出售。
Understanding a Fractional Share
关于零股
Fractional shares come about in a number of ways, including dividend reinvestment plans, stock splits, mergers, and acquisitions.
可通过多种方式获得零股,包括股息再投资计划、股票分拆、兼并和收购。
Dividend Reinvestment Plans
股息再投资计划
Dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP) often create fractional shares. A dividend reinvestment plan is a plan in which a dividend-offering corporation or brokerage firm allows investors to use dividend payouts to purchase more of the same shares. As this amount "drips" back into the purchase of more shares, it is not limited to whole shares. Reinvesting capital gain distributions and dollar-cost averaging programs can also result in purchasing fractional shares.
股息再投资计划(DRIP)通常会产生零股。股息再投资计划是一种提供股息的公司或经纪公司允许投资者用股息购买更多相同股票的计划。随着这一数额“反过来”购买更多的股份,它不仅限于整股。再投资资本收益分配和美元成本平均计划也会导致购买零股。
Stock Splits
股票分拆
Stock splits don't always result in an even number of shares. A 3-for-2 stock split would create three shares for every two shares an investor owns, so an investor with an odd number of shares would end up with a fractional share after the split.
股票分拆并不总是产生偶数股。三比二的股票分拆将为投资者拥有的每两只股票创造三只股票,因此拥有奇数股票的投资者在分拆后将获得零股。
Mergers and Acquisitions
兼并和收购
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) may also create fractional shares since companies combine new common stock using a predetermined ratio. The ratio often results in fractional shares for shareholders.
兼并和收购(M & A)也可能产生零股,因为公司使用预先确定的比率合并新的普通股。这一比例通常会导致股东获得零股。
Some brokerage firms will split whole shares intentionally so they can sell fractional shares to clients. This division of shares is most often the case with high-priced stocks like Amazon (AMZN) or Alphabet, Google's parent company (GOOGL). As of March 2020, AMZN was selling for more than $1,800 per share, and GOOGL was selling for more than $1,100 per share. Fractional shares often can be the only way individual investors can buy stock in such companies.
一些经纪公司会有意分拆整股,以便向客户出售零股。这种股票分拆最常见于亚马逊(AMZN)或谷歌母公司Alphabet等高价股。截至2020年3月,AMZN每股售价超过1800美元,GOOGL每股售价超过1100美元。零股通常是个人投资者购买该等公司股票的唯一方式。
For example, a young investor with limited funds might have their heart set on buying stock in Amazon. Starting with $1,000 to invest, they won't have enough to buy a full share of stock, so they might find a brokerage firm willing to sell a fractional share. They could invest half of the money in one-third of a share of Amazon and use the other half to invest in lower-priced stocks that would allow them to buy full shares.
例如,一个资金有限的年轻投资者可能一心想购买亚马逊的股票。从1000美元开始投资,他们将没有足够的钱来购买一整股股票,所以他们可能会找到一家愿意出售零股的经纪公司。他们可以将一半资金投资于三分之一的亚马逊股票,用另一半投资于低价股票,这样他们就可以购买全部股票。
Trading Fractional Shares
交易零股
The only way to sell fractional shares is through a major brokerage firm, which can join them with other fractional shares until a whole share is attained. If the selling stock does not have a high demand in the marketplace, selling the fractional shares might take longer than hoped.
出售零股的唯一途径是通过一家大型经纪公司,该公司可以将这些零股与其他零股合并,直到获得全部股份。如果出售的股票在市场上没有很高的需求,出售零股的时间可能会比预期的长。
Not everyone wants to hold onto fractional shares, especially if they ended up with them for inadvertent reasons such as stock splits. An investor might have 225 shares of XYZ stock priced at $12 per share. After a 3-for-2 stock split, they would end up with 337½ shares priced at $8 per share. If there is a high demand for XYZ stock in the market, they'll be more likely to find a brokerage firm willing to take the fractional share. Or they could find a brokerage firm willing to sell another half share to bring their total number of shares to 338.
不是每个人都想持有零股,尤其是如果他们因为股票分拆等不经意的原因而持有零股。一个投资者可能有225股XYZ股票,价格为每股12美元。在3比2的股票分拆后,他们最终将拥有337股股票,每股价格为8美元。如果市场对XYZ股票有很高的需求,他们将更有可能找到愿意接受零股的经纪公司。或者他们可以找到一家愿意再出售一半股份的经纪公司,使他们的股份总数达到338股。
(英文来源:Investopedia)