Many times there is a rapid recovery of the stock price--and anyway, you have the dividend in your pocket. If you reinvest (wait for a dip) you will compound your dividend. You also can sell covered calls to lower your price per share. And you can trade a stock as it moves up and down. Because the dividend keeps the stock price stabilized to a greater degree than non-dividend stocks, you can "borrow" your money (sell your stock) and make money investing elsewhere; then, rebuy your stock in time for the next dividend. There are a lot of options if you want to stay in the stock. Or you can sell.