It's been a pleasing start to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a tentative 0.09% and is back over 6,830 points. But we can't say the same for the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price.
Bendigo Bank shares closed at $8.97 each last week. But today, the ASX 200 bank share opened at $8.76, and is now going for $8.69 each. That's a hefty loss of 3.1% so far.
So why are Bendigo Bank shares underperforming the ASX 200 so comprehensively today?
Well, luckily for investors, it's because Bendigo Bank shares have just traded ex-dividend for the bank's upcoming final dividend payment.
Bendigo Bank share price drops as bank trades ex-dividend
As we flagged last week, Bendigo Bank is scheduled to fork out its final dividend for FY22 later this month on 29 September. But because the bank is trading ex-dividend today, only investors that held Bendigo Bank shares before this trading session are eligible to receive Bendigo Bank's final dividend.
When an ASX share trades ex-dividend, all new investors are cut off from receiving the said dividend payment. As such, we normally see the value of this dividend leave the company's share price. That's because its value is now lost to new investors. This is what is happening to Bendigo Bank shares today.
Bendigo Bank shareholders can now look forward to receiving Bendigo Bank's final dividend of 26.5 cents per share, fully franked, later this month.
This latest dividend payment will bring Bendigo Bank's total dividends for FY22 to 53 cents per share. That follows on from the interim dividend of 28 cents per share investors received back in March. This represents a small drop from the previous financial year's dividend total of 54.5 cents per share.
At the current Bendigo Bank share price, this ASX 200 bank share now has a dividend yield of 6.09%.
