Preferred stocks are a hybrid of debt and equity and have attributes of both securities. In an issuing company’s capital structure, they give investors a claim to income and assets before common equity investors but after debt holders. Preferred stocks pay a stream of fixed- or floating-rate payments similar to the coupon payments made on debt and provide no participation in the issuer’s residual gains or any voting rights. However, similar to dividend-paying equity, preferred stocks’ dividend payments are not a mandatory obligation of the issuer. Failure to pay preferred.
