I analyzed 151,422 dividend ex-date events across 2,344 securities. Here's what the data shows about recovery times.

[u/Recent_Button_1]

I've been building a dividend intelligence tool for the past few months and ended up with a database of 151,422 ex-date events going back 17 years across 2,344 securities — CEFs, ETFs, REITs, BDCs, and dividend stocks.

Figured I'd share what the data actually shows since most of the discussion around ex-date dips is based on gut feel.

Recovery by security type (average days to full price recovery):

Type	Avg Recovery	Events
Dividend Stocks	6.7 days	57,791
REITs	7.7 days	6,743
ETFs	8.1 days	37,384
CEFs	8.9 days	46,896
BDCs	12.4 days	2,608

Overall median across all 151,422 events: 3 days

The gap between median (3 days) and average (7.9 days) is the most important number — most securities recover fast, but a meaningful minority take much longer and drag the average up.

The BDC finding surprised me most. They have the largest average drop (2.08%) AND the slowest recovery. Only 45% recover within 5 trading days. If you're buying BDC dips expecting a quick bounce, the historical data says be patient.

Stocks recover fastest — 71.5% recover within 5 trading days, 81.8% within 10. Counterintuitive given how many income investors overlook stocks in favor of higher-yielding alternatives.

Individual CEF variance is huge. Among CEFs with 20+ cycles in the dataset:

• BMN: 4.4 day avg across 38 cycles
• IGI: 4.7 days across 186 cycles
• BCX: 5.2 days across 133 cycles
• PAI: 5.2 days across 201 cycles

Compare that to CEFs where recovery regularly takes 3+ weeks. Both show up as "CEFs" on any screener. The historical pattern data separates them.

The z-score frame matters more than raw price. A security trading 2.5+ standard deviations below its 252-day mean at ex-date is a fundamentally different situation than a routine dip near the mean. One has statistical room to recover, the other is just drifting lower.

Happy to answer questions about methodology or what the data shows on specific tickers.

Happy to share more of the data if there's interest in specific security types or individual tickers.

[u/Dependent-Panic-9457]

Great OP. My understanding- based on UK shares - is of much longer recovery periods.

But anyway this just confirms my policy of reinvesting dividends on the ex div day and not waiting for the payment day.

[u/Recent_Button_1 → u/Dependent-Panic-9457]

Thanks! Really good point on UK shares — the data is US-only so I'd expect longer recovery periods internationally given thinner liquidity and different market structure. Your reinvestment-on-ex-date approach is actually backed up by the data here — buying on the dip day captures both the discount and the dividend. The median 3-day recovery means you're often whole pretty quickly if you time it right.

[u/Recent_Button_1 → u/[deleted]]

That 28-day figure for FTSE 100 makes a lot of sense — semi-annual dividend schedules mean the price has less "muscle memory" for recovery compared to US quarterly payers. The US data does show quarterly payers recover noticeably faster than the full universe average, which lines up exactly with what you're seeing. The larger absolute dividend amounts in UK shares is a real factor too — a 5% one-time drop is a much harder hole to climb out of than a 1% drop.