The National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price is getting crunched.
Down 3.5% at the time of writing, investors will be left wondering what's going on.
Indeed, the NAB share price is down significantly more than the share prices of any one of its key rivals, for example Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is up 0.36%.
Ex-dividend
The NAB share price is down heavily today because its shares are now 'ex-dividend'. That means shareholders on the bank's registry as of yesterday evening stand to receive its upcoming 99 cents-per-share fully franked dividend.
The cash payout, which was flat from last year's 99 cents-per-share payment, is due to be paid into eligible shareholders' accounts on 5 July 2016.
Perhaps adding to today's selling pressure is Westpac Banking Corp's (ASX: WBC) decision to sell another set of capital notes (the 'notes' are quasi-debt instruments which some banks use to prop up their balance sheets). Westpac plans to raise some $750 million (give or take) from the notes.