Attention Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) shareholders! You might want to check your bank account today.
The day has come for the ASX 200 coal miner to pay out its biggest-ever final dividend in the company's history.
A fully franked dividend of 40 cents per share should have landed if you scooped up Whitehaven shares before the ex-dividend date.
But if you missed out on buying its shares before 1 September, there's nothing to fret about.
The company's shares touched a record high of $8.96 yesterday, up 12% since the start of this month.
Let's take a look below at the details regarding the Whitehaven dividend.
Whitehaven dividend leaves the coal mine
What a year it has been for Whitehaven's books.
The company reported record numbers across key metrics in its full-year results for the 2022 financial year.
Revenue jumped 216% year-on-year (YoY) to $4.92 billion following unprecedented global demand for coal.
On the bottom line, Whitehaven booked a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.95 billion compared to a $543.9 million loss in FY21.
Nonetheless, the biggest win for shareholders came from the board's decision to significantly ramp up the final dividend.
This takes the full-year dividend to 48 cents per share, representing a 52% increase on the prior corresponding year.
In addition, the company is continuing to increase shareholder value by completing its $550 million share buyback programme.
And Whitehaven is likely to ask shareholders for another round of buybacks at this year's annual shareholder meeting next month.
Indeed, this could bode well for the share price over the medium term.
Based on yesterday's closing price of $8.87, Whitehaven has a trailing dividend yield of 5.41%.
Whitehaven share price snapshot
Energy prices, in particular coal has soared to record levels this year which has created significant tailwinds for Whitehaven.
The company's shares are up 240% in 2022 and could go further if coal prices continue to steam ahead.
Whitehaven is ASX's second biggest pure-play coal producer with a market capitalisation of approximately $8.11 billion.
Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) is in first place, valued slightly ahead at $8.65 billion.
