Stock and Shares

A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the total number of shares.
In liquidation, the stock represents the residual assets of the company that would be due to stockholders after discharge of all senior claims such as secured and unsecured debt.
Stockholders' equity cannot be withdrawn from the company in a way that is intended to be detrimental to the company's creditors.

The shares together form stock.
The stock of a corporation is partitioned into shares, the total of which are stated at the time of business formation.
Additional shares may subsequently be authorized by the existing shareholders and issued by the company.
In some jurisdictions, each share of stock has a certain declared par value,which is a nominal accounting value used to represent the equity on the balance sheet of the corporation.
In other jurisdictions, however, shares of stock may be issued without associated par value.

Shares represent a fraction of ownership in a business.A business may declare different types (or classes) of shares,each having distinctive ownership rules,privileges,or share values.
Ownership of shares may be documented by issuance of a stock certificate.
A stock certificate is a legal document that specifies the number of shares owned by the shareholder,and other specifics of the shares, such as the par value,if any,or the class of the shares.

Stock typically takes the form of shares of either common stock or preferred stock.
As a unit of ownership, common stock typically carries voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions.
Preferred stock differs from common stock in that it typically does not carry voting rights but is legally entitled to receive a certain level of dividend payments before any dividends can be issued to other shareholders.
Convertible preferred stock is preferred stock that includes an option for the holder to convert the preferred shares into a fixed number of common shares,usually any time after a predetermined date.
Shares of such stock are called "convertible preferred shares" (or "convertible preference shares" in the UK).

New equity issue may have specific legal clauses attached that differentiate them from previous issues of the issuer.
Some shares of common stock may be issued without the typical voting rights,for instance,or some shares may have special rights unique to them and issued only to certain parties.
Often,new issues that have not been registered with a securities governing body may be restricted from resale for certain periods of time.