Dividends a. are the rates of return on a company’s capital stock. b. are the difference between the price and present value per share of a stock. c. are the rates of return on mutual funds. d. are cash payments that companies make to shareholders.

a. are the rates of return on a company's capital stock.

Explanation:

Dividends are are earnings distributed to company's share holders as a result of the shares held by them in the company.

When a company is formed I.e company quoted on the stock exchange, they are usually financed by shareholder's fund.

A share is the unit of capital of a company allocated to an individual while a shareholder is someone who has share(s) in the company. Shareholders are owners of the company. They are also investors and so they expect returns on their investment at the end of each financial period.

These returns are paid to the share holders as dividened which are the rates of returns on a company's capital stock.