Giving its shareholders a choice to receive a dividend as either cash or company stock, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) (NYSE: RDS-B) announced an interim dividend of $0.45 per share this week, some 2% higher than what it paid in the same quarter last year.
The payment will be made on June 27 to shareholders of record on May 17.
Through its scrip dividend program, Shell issues scrip that investors use to elect how they'll receive their payout. Holders of Shell's class A shares will be paid in euros, though they can elect to receive the dividends in pounds sterling. Class B shareholders, on the other hand, will receive their dividends in pounds sterling, but can choose to get them in euros. The pounds sterling and euro equivalent dividend payments will be announced on June 10.
Investors holding Shell's American Depository Shares, or ADS, will receive a payout of $0.90 per ADS -- paid in U.S. dollars -- because each ADS is worth two shares of Royal Dutch Shell's ordinary stock.
