The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) dividend will finally hit the accounts of shareholders on Friday. This might be one of the few bright spots for Wesfarmers in recent months as its share price has plunged back down to 4-month lows.
The Wesfarmers share price closed at $54.07 on Wednesday, down almost 20% since its all-time high of $57.20 on 20 August.
What happened to the Wesfarmers share price?
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) topped out in mid-August after reaching all-time highs of 7,633.
The decline of Wesfarmers was consistent with that of the broader market.
The company's FY21 full-year results was another major driver of its recent underperformance.
At face value, Wesfarmers had a standout year, delivering a 10% increase in revenue to $33,941 million, net profit after tax increased 16.2% to $2,421 million, as well as a final dividend of 90 cents per share.
The overall Wesfarmer dividend for FY21 came in at 178 cents, up 17.1% on FY20.
But looking ahead, Wesfarmers management flagged the prospect of weaker near-term earnings as a result of recent lockdowns and the cycling of elevated sales.
"Given the impact of lockdowns in recent months and the prospect of continued trading restrictions, earnings in the Group's retail businesses during the first half of the 2022 financial year may be below the prior corresponding period," management said.
What else do investors need to know about the Wesfarmers dividend?
Last week, Wesfarmers announced that $57.06 will be the allocation price for shares issued through the dividend investment plan for its final dividend.
According to the release, shareholders representing 11.72% of Wesfarmers shares on issue had a valid election to participate in the dividend investment plan for the period.
Shares are expected to be issued to participants of the dividend investment plan on 7 October.
But wait there's more …
Wesfarmers' FY21 results also revealed a significant capital return to shareholders in the form of a 200 cents per share payment on top of its final dividend.
The proposed capital return is subject to shareholder approval at the company's 2021 annual general meeting.
If all goes to plan, the capital return date is expected to have a record date of 19 November 2021 and payable by 2 December 2021.
