The stock tables in major newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal or online finance portals such as Yahoo Finance contain a wealth of information for the astute stock market investor. The following is an explanation of the various columns in a stock table that describe a particular company:
52 Week High: The highest price that stock has reached in the prior 52 weeks.
52 Week Low: The lowest price that stock has reached in the prior 52 weeks.
Name and Symbol: Gives you the company name and the stock symbol associated with the company.
Dividend (Div): If the company pays a dividend, it is shown in this column. The amount shown is the annual dividend for one share of that stock. Normally, dividends are payed out quarterly.
Volume: The volume figure tells you how many shares of the stock were traded that day. Yield: In a stock table, yield refers to what percentage the dividend is to the stock price. It is calculated by dividing the annual dividend by the current stock price.
P/E Ratio: This figure is the ratio between a stock’s price and the company’s earnings – price divided by earnings. The P/E Ratio is often used to measure the value of a stock and whether it is over or under priced in the market.
Day Last: This column shows the stock price at the close of trading for the day represented by the table.
Net Change: This column shows the change in price from the end of the prior trading day to the day reported in the column.
Stock table of Amazon.com from Yahoo Finance