The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having another pleasing opening so far this morning after yesterday's welcome recovery. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a decent 0.69% at just under 7,101 points. So it might come as an initial disappointment to see that the South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price doesn't seem to be joining the party.
In fact, South32 shares look like they are tanking today. The diversified miner is currently down by a nasty 4.06% at $4.73 a share.
Now, you might think this drop is related to the general rejection of mining and energy shares that we are seeing so far on the ASX today. South32's compatriots, such as BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), are indeed all in the red thus far.
But investors can blame another factor for making things worse for the South32 share price. However, it's not necessarily a bad one.
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South32 share price lower after trading ex-dividend
Today is the day that South32 shares have traded ex-dividend for the company's upcoming interim dividend payment. Yes, from today, any new investors in South32 will be ineligible to receive this company's latest dividend. As such, the value of this dividend has left the South32 share price.
But investors who owned the shares prior to today can look forward to a figurative cheque in the mail. The fully franked interim payment will be worth 8.7 US cents per share. This will be sent out to investors on 7 April.
As is common with dividends initially determined in a foreign currency, we don't yet know for sure how much this dividend is worth in our own dollars. But on today's exchange rates, a payment of 8.7 US cents would equate to approximately 12 Australian cents per share.
On the current South32 share price, this ASX 200 miner has a dividend yield of 3.59%.
South32 shares are up 18% this year to date and 72% over the past 12 months.
