Last week, the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price pushed higher and recorded a 3% weekly gain.
This was driven largely by news that Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) shareholders have voted in favour of the merger with BHP's petroleum assets.
So, with the merger now less than two weeks away from completion, BHP shareholders are on the cusp of receiving another dividend.
What is the latest BHP dividend?
The latest BHP dividend won't be the cash payment that shareholders have been accustomed to in recent years. This time around, eligible shareholders will be receiving an in-specie dividend.
An in-specie dividend is a dividend that is paid in assets rather than cash.
In respect to the latest BHP dividend, those assets will be shares in Woodside, with shareholders set to receive one new share for every 5.534 BHP shares they hold on Thursday 25 May. Any entitlement to a fraction of a Woodside share will be rounded down to the nearest whole share.
This means that if you had 212 BHP shares, which is the equivalent of a $10,000 investment, you would receive 38 new shares in Woodside. These have a market value of $1,093.26 based on the current Woodside share price.
What's next?
To be eligible for the next BHP dividend, investors will need to own the Big Australian's shares before they trade ex-dividend on Wednesday 25 May. From that day onwards, the dividends will stay with the seller.
After which, eligible shareholders will receive the dividends/shares in Woodside on the afternoon of 1 June when the merger is expected to complete.
Those new shares will then commence normal trading on the ASX a day later on Thursday 2 June.
It's also worth noting that Woodside is changing its name and ticker code next Wednesday. The new merged group will be known as Woodside Energy Group Ltd with the ticker code WDS.
