A dividend is a token reward paid to the shareholders for their investment in a company’s equity, and it usually originates from the company's net profits. While the major portion of the profits is kept within the company as retained earnings–which represent the money to be used for the company’s ongoing and future business activities–the remainder can be allocated to the shareholders as a dividend. At times, companies may still make dividend payments even when they don’t make suitable profits. They may do so to maintain their established track record of making regular dividend payments