The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) hasn't had the happiest month. Over the past four weeks or so, the ASX 200 has lost around 1.5% of its value. But it's been even worse for the Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price.
Northern Star shares are today going for $7.76 a share at the time of writing, up 0.4% for this session. But one month ago, the company had closed at $8.43 a share. That means that Northern Star shares have lost a painful 8.2% over the past month. Ouch.
But what about dividends? After all, as an ASX gold miner, dividends are important for many of Northern Star's shareholders. Remember, gold bullion doesn't offer any yield itself, so many gold investors like to invest in gold miners like Northern Star for yield.
As any dividend investor worth their salt knows, falling share prices usually translate into higher dividend yields. A dividend yield is a function of a company's dividends per share, and its share price. The lower the share price, the larger the dividend yield.
What kinds of dividends do Northern Star shares have on the table today?
In terms of raw dividends per share, Northern Star has some pleasing metrics up its sleeve. We've just seen the gold miner declare a final dividend for FY22 of 11.5 cents per share, fully franked.
That was a pleasing 21% rise over FY21's final dividend of 9.5 cents per share. It brings Northern Star's total dividends paid over 2022 to 21.5 cents per share, again a decent boost over 2021's total of 19 cents.
A month ago, when Northern Star was asking $8.43 a share, this would have given the company a dividend yield of 2.55%. But, at today's price of $7.76, this yield has risen to 2.77%.
Of course, this only applies to investors buying Northern Star Resources shares today. If an investor bought last month at $8.43, they would be stuck with the old yield on their capital.
But even so, the relationship between share price and dividend yield is one that all income investors should take care to understand. It can make the difference between a good dividend share and a great one over time, provided the right ASX shares are chosen, of course.
At the current Northern Star Resources share price, this ASX 200 gold miner has a market capitalisation of $9.03 billion.
