The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is falling on Wednesday.
In morning trade, the conglomerate's shares are down 3% to $58.16.
Why is the Wesfarmers share price sinking?
The good news is that the weakness in the Wesfarmers share price today has nothing to do with its operational performance or a broker note.
Instead, the company's shares are falling after trading ex-dividend this morning for its final dividend of FY 2021.
What dividend is Wesfarmers paying?
Last month Wesfarmers released its full year results and revealed a 10% increase in revenue to $33,941 million and a 16.2% lift in net profit after tax to $2,421 million.
This allowed the Wesfarmers Board to declare a fully franked final dividend of 90 cents per share, which took its full year dividend to 178 cents per share.
This morning Wesfarmers' shares are trading ex-dividend for this final dividend. This means that new buyers of the company's shares will not be entitled to the dividend when it is paid on 7 October. As a result, the Wesfarmers share price has dropped to reflect this.
But wait there's more
Investors that hold onto their Wesfarmers shares can also look forward to a potential return of capital of 200 cents per share.
The Board-recommended distribution remains subject to shareholder approval at the 2021 Annual General Meeting on 21 October 2021. However, the market is expecting the vote to be a mere formality.
If all goes to plan, Wesfarmers intends to pay this capital return on 2 December.
What else is going ex-dividend?
Earlier this year rival Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) completed the demerger of the Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) business. This saw Woolies shareholders receive shares in the drinks business.
This morning the Endeavour share price is trading lower after it went ex-dividend as well. It is paying an inaugural final dividend of 7 cents per share to shareholders.
This means that investors that held onto their Endeavour shares following the demerger can look forward to receiving its dividend on 22 September.
