Declaration Date（股息宣告日）

The declaration date, also known as the announcement date, is the date when a company’s board of directors announces the next dividend distribution. This statement includes the dividend’s size, ex-dividend date and payment date. The declaration date is important to investors because it provides the information for them to know whether or not they will be eligible for a dividend payment. But most investors consider the declaration date to be the least important of all the dividend dates, which include the ex-dividend date, the payment date, and the record date, because it is only a communication of information rather than a date in which any impact will take place.

股息宣告日是指公司董事会宣布分派下一期股息的日期，其中包括股息、除息日和支付日等信息。基于上述信息，投资人可以获悉自身是否有权获得股息。但是，大多数投资人认为，相较于除息日、支付日和登记日，股息宣告日最不重要，因为提供的只是信息，并不会产生任何影响。

Record Date（股权登记日）

The record date, or date of record, is the cut-off date established by a company in order to determine which shareholders are eligible to receive a dividend or distribution. The determination of a record date is required to ascertain who exactly a company's shareholders are as of that date, since shareholders of an actively traded stock are continually changing. The shareholders of record as of the record date will be entitled to receive the dividend or distribution, declared by the company.

股权登记日是指公司为了确定哪些股东有权获得股息或分派而设置的截止日期。由于公司股东经常会发生变更，设置此日期方便确定有权获得股息或分派的股东。

Ex-dividend Date（除息日）

Once the record date is set, the ex-dividend date is also set according to the rules of the stock exchange on which the stock is traded. The ex-dividend date is typically set for one business day prior to the record date, due to the T+2 system of settlement that financial markets presently use in the United States.

一旦确定了股权登记日，除息日可根据股票挂牌交易的证券交易所规则进行确定。由于美国金融产品交易目前实行T+2结算制度，除息日即为股权登记日前一日。

Payment Date（股息支付日）

A payment date, also known as the pay or payable date, is the actual day when a company pays its eligible shareholders dividends. This date can be up to a month after the ex-dividend date. 

股息支付日是指公司向有权获得股息之股东实际支付股息的日期，通常为除息日后几周。

举例：

On March 20, 2021, ABC Company notifies its shareholders that a dividend will be paid on April 12, 2021. ABC further stipulates that all shareholders that are registered on the company's books before March 25, 2021, will be eligible for the dividend payment. In this scenario for ABC Company, the declaration date is March 10, 2021, thy payment date is April 12, 2021, the record date is March 25, 2021, and the ex-dividend date will be March 24, 2021, one day prior to the record date.

某公司于2021年3月20日告知股东，股息将于2021年4月12日支付。随后进一步规定，2021年3月25日前载入公司名册的全部股东均有权获得股息。在这种情况下，该公司的股息宣告日为2021年3月20日，股息支付日为2021年4月12日，股权登记日为2021年3月25日，除息日为2021年3月24日（股权登记日前一日）。

If stockholders sold their stock before March 23, 2021, the ex-dividend date, then they would not be eligible to receive the dividend payment on April 12, 2021. However, if they sold their stock on March 30, for example, they would still be eligible to receive the dividend payment on April 12, 2020.

若股东在2021年3月23日除息日之前出售股票，则无权在2021年4月12日获得股息。但是，如果股东在2021年3月30日出售股票，则依然有权在2021年4月12日获得股息。

来源：Investopedia