South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) is one of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s many dividend paying resource shares.
In fact, the diversified mining and metals company started paying dividends shortly after it was spun out of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) in 2015.
At market close on Friday, the South32 share price closed at $4.84, 4.91% lower than its previous close.
While that's a significant drop, it's far from alone in the red. The ASX 200 also finished in the red, down 15.7%.
Additionally, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources Index (ASX: XJR) had a bad day, plunging 3.40%.
Let's take a look at South32's dividends and the yield the ASX 200 share is currently trading on.
A breakdown of South32's dividend history and yield
South32 shares hit the market in May of 2015, taking many of BHP's alumina, aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel, silver, lead, and zinc assets with it.
Though, the company didn't pay a dividend for the first 12 months of its listed life. The first payout handed to South32's investors came at the end of financial year 2016.
Then, shareholders were given an unfranked dividend worth approximately 1.3 cents per share. In the company's defence, its share price was trading at around $2 at that point.
Fortunately, both the company's dividends and share price have all risen since then. Not to mention, it started offering franked dividends in financial year 2017.
The most recent payout investors received from South32 was its interim dividend for financial year 2022.
That saw shareholders handed a fully franked dividend worth approximately 11.9 cents for each South32 share they owned.
Previous to that, its final dividend for financial year 2021 and accompanying special dividend totalled around 7.4 cents per share, fully franked.
That means the company was trading with a trailing dividend yield of 3.79% at Thursday's close.
And, if there is to be a silver lining to Friday's tumble, at its current share price, South32 has a dividend yield of 4.01%.
