The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has been one of the best performers on the ASX 200 in 2019. Since the start of the year the mining giant's shares have stormed an impressive 23% higher.
But on Thursday the mining company's shares are likely to be amongst the worst performers on the index and could fall around 6.2%.
Why will the Rio Tinto share price fall 6%?
Before you panic that there's been a collapse in commodity prices or a disaster at one of its operations, the reason for the sizeable share price decline today is that its shares are trading ex-dividend this morning.
When a company's shares trade ex-dividend it means that they no longer hold the right to its next dividend. As a result, new buyers of its shares will adjust their purchase price to reflect this.
What dividend is being paid?
Rio Tinto is paying shareholders a 180 U.S. cents (256 Australian cents) per share final dividend and a 243 U.S. cents (345 Australian cents) per share special dividend.
Combined, the total being paid to shareholders is 423 U.S. cents (601 Australian cents) per share, which equates to a fully franked yield of approximately 6.2%.
Eligible Rio Tinto shareholders (those on the share registry at the close of play on Wednesday) will be paid these dividends in around six weeks on April 18.
What else is happening?
It isn't just Rio Tinto that is trading ex-dividend this morning in the resources sector. Both BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) are trading without the rights to their latest dividends this morning and are likely to trade lower.
BHP is paying a fully franked 55 U.S. cents (78.2 Australian cents) interim dividend and South32 is paying a fully franked 6.8 U.S. cents (9.7 Australian cents) interim dividend. This means BHP's shares could trade 2.1% lower and South32's shares could drop by around 2.5%.
