Waterways Leisure Tourism, the operator of the Cordelia Cruises brand, has fixed August 26 (Wednesday) as the record date for its maiden 1:10 stock split, effectively making today the last day for interested investors to buy shares of the recently-listed travel company to be eligible for the corporate action.According to SEBI's T+1 settlement cycle, investors must buy a company's shares at least one trading day before the record date to ensure the shares are credited to their demat accounts in time, and they become eligible for the corporate action. Accordingly, today is the last opportunity for investors to buy the shares so that they are credited to their accounts by Wednesday, making them eligible for the stock split.What Waterways Leisure Tourism stock split means for investors?Waterways Leisure Tourism had announced a stock split in the ratio of 1:10 just seven trading sessions after the shares of the company made their market debut on July 1. The company announced that its board of directors approved the plan to split each of its equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 each to 10 shares with a face value of Rs 1 each.For example, let’s take an investor who owns 10 shares of the company worth Rs 10 each on the record date, taking the total value of her stock holding to Rs 100. After the stock split takes effect, her 10 shares will be split into 100 shares, but the value of each of these shares will reduce to Rs 1. This will keep the total value of stock holding unchanged at Rs 100.While the number of outstanding shares increases, the company’s overall market capitalisation remains unchanged. A lower share price can make the stock more accessible to retail investors, potentially improving participation and trading volumes.Also read | Smallcap company announces 1:10 stock split 7 days after listing on marketWhy Waterways Leisure Tourism is splitting its shares?Waterways Leisure Tourism said that the stock split was aimed to enhance liquidity of the stock to make it more affordable and accessible to a wider base of investors.“The stock split is expected to increase trading volumes and broaden the shareholder base of the company. The sub-division does not affect the overall capital structure or intrinsic value of the company,” it added.Waterways Leisure Tourism share priceWaterways Leisure Tourism made a weak debut on stock market on July 1, listing at Rs 681 apiece on BSE. This marked a discount of more than 16% from the stock’s IPO price of Rs 808 apiece.The stock then sharply surged around 54% to hit a record high at Rs 1,046 apiece on BSE on Monday, rising nearly 30% from the IPO price. The company currently has a market capitalisation of around Rs 7,552 crore.This comes after the Rs 585 crore initial public offering of Waterways Leisure Tourism was subscribed 1.63 times, with retail investors emerging as the strongest participants. They subscribed their reserved portion more than 4 times. The portion kept for Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) was subscribed 1.18 times, while the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 1.01 times.Waterways Leisure Tourism is India's largest domestic ocean cruise operator and owns the popular Cordelia Cruises brand. Its flagship vessel, MV Empress, has a passenger capacity of more than 2,000 and operates cruises across key domestic destinations, including Mumbai, Goa, Kochi, Chennai, Lakshadweep, Visakhapatnam and Puducherry. The company also offers select international sailings to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.Also read | Bonus issues & stock splits: 6 stocks to turn ex-record date this week. Do you own any?(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)