Opinion ID: 1938241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Bellsouth: May 31, 1984

Text: The trust owned 300 shares of $1 par-value common stock. Bellsouth distributed to the trust an additional 600 shares of $1 par-value common stock, transferring funds from capital surplus to capital stock. The distribution did not reduce the par value of the previously-held shares but it did reduce the market price of the shares from $91 to $29.8125 per share (approximately sixty-six percent). Before the distribution the cash dividend on each of the shares was $1.95 and after the distribution it was $0.65. Accordingly, the total cash dividend the trust received was the same before and after the distribution (although the amount of the dividend per share was less after the distribution, the trust owned three times as many shares as before the distribution). Bellsouth characterized the distribution as a stock split.