Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) shares are an ASX staple, but do they pay dividends?
Boral is, in fact, a dividend paying stock, but the company hasn't provided investors with final or interim dividends for several years now.
Interestingly, however, Boral shareholders were handed a special payout earlier this year.
Let's dive into what's been going on with the building products and construction materials company's dividends lately.
At the time of writing, the Boral share price is $3.45, 1% lower than its previous close.
For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index(ASX: XJO) also slipped 0.52% on Tuesday.
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Do Boral shares pay dividends?
Whether Boral is a dividend paying share might be up for debate in some circles these days.
The last time the stock's investors were handed either an interim or final dividend was way back in 2020.
Then, Boral gave investors a 9.5 cent, 50% franked interim dividend. That was a 27% drop on the company's previous interim dividend and its lowest payout since 2015.
However, following 2019's bushfire and flood events and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boral dropped its dividend entirely as its earnings tanked.
Since then, Boral has been acquired by Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) and has undergone several major asset sales.
Following those asset sales, the company decided to return $3 billion to shareholders in February.
Boral investors received $2.72 for each share they owned, with $2.65 coming in the form of an equal capital reduction and the other 7 cents taking the shape of a special dividend.
Though, the Australian Taxation Office made it clear no part of the capital return could be treated as a dividend for tax purposes.
Additionally, as Boral no longer held the value of the capital return, its share price tumbled ahead of its payout. The stock fell a whopping 41.8% on 4 February.
Following the payout, Boral declined to provide shareholders with an interim dividend when it announced its results for the first half of financial year 2022.
Whether it will provide a final dividend for the financial year is yet to be seen.
Though, as The Motley Fool Australia's Sebastian Bowen recently reported, JPMorgan expects another dividend from the company this financial year.
