Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL) shareholders might be wondering why the share price plummeted 7.1% to $4.84 today.
Well, it's a simple case of the fund manager's shares going ex-dividend. This means any shares sold today did not carry with them the entitlement to the next dividend payment.
Pendal released its half-year results on 10 May, reporting growth across key financial metrics.
In turn, the board elected to ramp up its interim dividend by 23.5% to eligible investors.
Shareholders eye the Pendal interim dividend
The Pendal share price was in reverse due to the company's shares trading ex-dividend today.
Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date. Investors who wanted to receive the dividend needed to buy Pendal shares before the ex-dividend date.
Historically, when a company reaches its ex-dividend day, its shares tend to fall in proportion to the dividend paid out. This is because investors tend to sell off the company's shares after securing the dividend.
When can shareholders expect to be paid?
Shareholders will receive a payment of 21 cents per share on 1 July. The dividend is partially franked at 10%, which means investors will receive some tax credits to help reduce their annual income tax liability.
While Pendal does have a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP), the board decided to keep it inactive for the interim dividend.
Management noted that the latest dividend is within the group's annual payout ratio of 80% to 95% of underlying profit after tax.
Pendal share price summary
Since the beginning of 2022, Pendal shares have lost 16.2% on the back of weakened ASX investor sentiment. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) is down 2.6% over the same time frame.
Pendal shares reached a 52-week low of $4.04 in March before rebounding despite inflationary movements and market volatility.
Based on today's price, Pendal commands a market capitalisation of almost $2 billion. It has a trailing dividend yield of 8%.
