Preferred Stock - A preferred stock is a class of stock entitling the holder to receive a specified dollar value per share upon liquidation of the company, and a fixed dividend paid before the common stock holders. Voting rights are usually limited to special situations such as when a certain number of dividends have been missed. Investors should also consider examining technical events for the underlying stock when researching convertible preferred shares. Technical events may be considered less indicative for non-convertible preferred shares. Technical events should be used as one piece of additional information within greater research regarding these instruments.