X Factor: 5 Stocks Reaching Their Ex-Dividend Date on October 26

Crestwood Midstream Partners, Tanger Factory Outlet, and Susquehanna Bancshares are on the list.

MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL Nine stocks will reach their ex-dividend date tomorrow, which is significant for investors as the seller of the stock on that date, not the buyer, receives the most recent dividend.

A stock must be bought one day before the ex-dividend date to claim any dividends that have been announced but not yet paid. The company determines on the record date, which usually occurs two days after the ex-dividend date, which shareholders qualify for the dividend. Shareholders listed as holders of record after the record date then receive their dividend on the date of payment established by the company. Those purchasing right before the record date forfeit the dividend and normally get the stock for a reduced amount.

It may seem an anachronism in this era of high frequency trading, but the dividend rate rules are in force since it can still take up to three business days for transactions to be credited to and settled in an investor's account.

Below are five stocks that schedule October 26 as their ex-dividend date. All annual yields are estimated.

Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) yields 15.08% annually and has a market cap of $393.34 million. The royalty trust in the US will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.13 on November 20, and its quarterly yield will be 3.77% based on yesterday's closing price of $29.98. The trust has paid a dividend since 1990.

Crestwood Midstream Partners (NYSE:CMLP) yields 8.47% annually and has a market cap of $1.14 billion. Crestwood primarily engages in the gathering, processing, treating, compressing, transporting, and selling of natural gas in the United States. It will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.51 on November 9, and its monthly yield will be 2.16% based on yesterday's closing price of $23.65. The company began paying a quarterly dividend at the end of 2007.

Tanger Factory Outlet (NYSE:SKT) yields 2.68% annually and has market cap of $2.90 billion. The real estate investment trust, or REIT, will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.21 on November 15, and its quarterly yield will be 0.67% based on yesterday's closing price of $31.41. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1993. Each dividend payment has either increased or remained the same from the prior quarter.