There are many more variable than you bring to the board.

Here are are few variations:

Many publicly traded companies maintain dividend reinvestment plans (sometimes called DRIPs). If you hold stock in XYZ and participate in a DRIP maintained by that company, cash dividends on your stock are automatically reinvested in XYZ stock.

Different companies design their DRIPs with different features. As a result, the tax consequences of different DRIPs can be slightly different. Here are some of the ways these plans may differ from one another:

• Some DRIPs charge a periodic service charge, which may be deducted from the dividends paid on your stock. For example, you may be required to pay a service charge of $30 per year to participate in the DRIP.
• Some DRIPs acquire stock directly from the company, while others may use your dividends to buy stock on the open market. If the plan buys stock on the open market, it will incur brokerage commission costs, and the date of purchase will not necessarily be the same as the date of the dividend.
• Some companies that maintain DRIPs will pay brokerage commission costs on purchases made through the plan. In other cases, the commission is paid out of the dividend and reduces the number of shares you receive.
• Some DRIPs permit participants to buy additional shares by sending a cash payment to the trustee of the plan. These purchases are called optional purchases.
• Some DRIPs provide a discount on purchases of dividend reinvestment shares, or on optional purchases, or both.

There are also tax implications involved, which is better left out of the discussion.