preferred stock

noun [C] (also preference stock) FINANCE, STOCK MARKET

Definition

› a share or group of shares in a company that gives the owner the right to receive a dividend (= part of the company's profit) before dividends are paid to owners of common shares, or when dividends on common shares are not paid at all → See also common stock, participating preferred stock, preference share, preferred share

(Definition of preferred stock noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)