One of the worst performers on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price.
In early afternoon trade the travel agent giant's shares are down over 5% to $42.83.
Why is the Flight Centre share price sinking lower today?
The good news is that shareholders need not panic that something bad has happened to cause the selling. The catalyst for today's sizeable decline is Flight Centre's shares trading ex-dividend for both its interim and special dividends.
When a share goes ex-dividend, the company's share price will drop to reflect the fact that it is trading without the rights to an upcoming dividend.
Last month when Flight Centre released its half year results, it announced a fully franked 60 cents per share interim dividend and an additional fully franked $1.49 per share special dividend.
Management advised that its decision to pay these dividends, which total $2.09 per share, reflected its "solid 1H and underline its success in diversifying and globalising its business."
These dividend will now be paid to eligible shareholders (those that owned shares at the market close yesterday) in a little over three weeks on April 12.
Should you buy Flight Centre shares?
Whilst I'm a fan of the company, I do have concerns over the weakness in its key Australian segment.
Flight Centre's Australian leisure segment was particularly weak in the first half, leading to management implementing new short-term strategies to improve its second half performance.
If these strategies work then Flight Centre could prove to be a bargain buy at the current level. However, I intend to wait for a trading update before considering an investment.
In the meantime, I think Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) shares could be worth considering as alternatives.
