Stockholders' Equity (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 26, 2014

Equity [Abstract]

Cash Dividends Declared and Paid

The following table presents our declared and paid cash dividends per share on our common stock for the past three years. The dividend declared in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 was paid early in the subsequent quarter; all other dividends were declared and paid in the same period. Patterson expects to continue paying a quarterly cash dividend into the foreseeable future.

	Period
Fiscal year	1		2		3		4
2014	$	0.16	$	0.16	$	0.16	$	0.20
2013	$	0.14	$	0.14	$	0.14	$	0.16
2012	$	0.12	$	0.12	$	0.12	$	0.14