What is a distinguishing feature of a stock corporation?

A stock corporation is primarily defined by its structure and the rights it offers to its shareholders. One of the key characteristics of a stock corporation is its ability to distribute profits in the form of dividends, which are typically distributed to shareholders based on the number of shares they own. This means that as shareholders increase their ownership, they proportionately increase their share of the profits, thus aligning financial rewards with ownership stakes.

Dividends are one of the main ways stock corporations incentivize investment and distribute financial benefits to investors, making option D especially relevant. This profit-sharing feature distinguishes stock corporations from other types of organizations, such as nonprofit entities, which do not distribute profits to shareholders.

The other options do not accurately capture the essential characteristics of a stock corporation. For example, nonprofit organizations (option A) are established to serve public interests and do not provide dividends as they do not have shareholders in the same sense. Similarly, while shareholders in a stock corporation do have voting rights (option C), that is just one aspect of their privileges rather than the defining feature of a stock corporation itself. Lastly, stating that a stock corporation does not have shares or dividends (option B) directly contradicts its fundamental purpose, as shares are essential to its existence and operation.