The Indian conglomerate giant ITC Ltd is surely a renowned name in the domestic stock market. One reason for this is the stock’s large market capitalization of over Rs 4 lakh crore, or Rs 4,76,048 crore to be exact.
Another reason for the cigarettes manufacturer stock to be among the investor favorites is its rewards to shareholders. ITC is surely one of the revered dividend paying stocks listed on Indian stock exchanges. However, it is not just limited to paying dividends as rewards to shareholders.
ITC has also issued bonus shares to its shareholders over the years.
In the past two decades, the conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata has issued bonus shares to its shareholders three times. If you ponder upon the calculations, investors holding ITC’s shares worth Rs 1 lakh will now be giving returns of Rs 1.23 crore in these 20 years, including the three bonus share issues.
On looking at information on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the stock of ITC has turned ex-bonus on Sept 21, 2005, August 3, 2010, and July 1, 2016.
Looking at all of these bonus share issues individually:
#1. September 2005
On Sept 21, 2005, ITC traded ex-bonus in the ratio of 1:2, which means that every eligible shareholder of ITC (eligible for the bonus share issue) having at least two shares of the company was given an additional one bonus share of the company free of cost, or without any additional sum.
#2. August 2010
On Aug 3, 2010, shares of ITC traded ex-bonus in the ratio of 1:1, meaning that every eligible shareholder of ITC having one share of the company was awarded one additional bonus share.
#3. July 2016
On Jul 1, 2016, shares of ITC traded ex-bonus in the ratio of 1:2, meaning that every eligible shareholder of ITC having two shares of the company was awarded one additional bonus share.
Adding all of these bonus shares, along with the dividends in the past 20 years, a shareholder of ITC investing Rs 1 lakh in the company 20 years back will now have a return of Rs 1.23 crore.
