The S32 dividend is being paid today. Here's what you need to know

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) shareholders should check their accounts today to see if they received the company's latest dividend payout.

The mining outfit distributed a fully-franked interim dividend of US 8.7 cents (A$0.1194) per share to eligible shareholders.

At Wednesday's market close, the South32 share price finished 1.95% lower to $5.02.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) also fell yesterday with a 0.5% loss to 7,490.1 points.

Let's take a look at all the details regarding the company's dividend.

How did South32 perform for the first half of FY22?

In the half year report for the 2022 financial year, South32 reported strong performance across key metrics.

In summary, group statutory profit after tax increased by US$979 million to US$1,032 million in H1 FY22. The company benefited from portfolio changes completed in FY21, as well as a broad recovery in commodity prices.

Underlying earnings jumped by US$868 million to US$1,004 million through higher average realised prices for commodities, particularly metallurgical coal. The latter attributed US$526 million over the period to South32's coffers.

The group also achieved a US$704 million increase in free cash flow from operations, excluding EAI, to US$840 million.

Overall, the company finished the first half with net cash of US$975 million, up from US$406 million in the prior year.

The board declared a fully franked interim dividend of US 8.7 cents per share. This represents a 621% jump from the US 1.4 cents declared in H1 FY21.

Management noted that the latest dividend equates to a payout ratio of 40% of cash earnings.

The company's dividend policy is to distribute a minimum of 40% of its cash earnings in any 6-month period.

It is worth noting that there is a capital management program that has been active since FY18. This returns excess capital efficiently through an on-market share buyback.

The board further expanded its capital management program by US$110 million to US$2.1 billion, leaving US$302 million to be returned by 2 September 2022.

South32 share price snapshot

Adding to its impressive gains, the South32 share price has surged around 78% in the last 12 months. This has predominantly been driven by its gains achieved in 2022, up 25%.

South32 has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 29.88 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $23.32 billion.