One of the standout ASX 200 earnings reports from this season has to be that of Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW). Woolies revealed its earnings for the half-year ending 31 December 2022 just last week. And it impressed investors across the board.
As we covered at the time, Woolworths reported a bevvy of green numbers. Sales were up a pleasing 4% to $33.17 billion, while earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) lifted by 18.4% to $1.64 billion. Net profit after tax (NPAT) was also up, this time by 14% to $907 million.
But the centrepiece of this earnings report was arguably Woolworths' new dividend. The grocery giant declared an interim dividend of 46 cents per share, fully franked. That represents an impressive 17.9% rise over the interim dividend of 39 cents per share investors saw in 2022.
This latest dividend from Woolworths will bring the company's trailing annual dividend to 99 cents per share, fully franked. That's going off of Woolies' last final dividend, the 53 cents per share payment that investors bagged last September.
Woolworths shares' turbocharged dividend is inbound
But if any investor is overcome with a need to receive this next dividend from Woolworths shares, they had better be quick. That's because the ex-dividend date for said payment is fast approaching.
An ex-dividend date is a date a company must nominate when it declares a dividend. It provides a cutoff date for eligibility to receive a dividend payment.
Put simply, if an investor owns shares of Woolworths before the ex-dividend date, they are entitled to the dividend payment in question. However, if the investor buys Woolworths shares on or after the ex-dividend date, they miss out. That's why we normally see a share price drop on the day a company goes 'ex-div'.
In Woolies' case, the company is scheduled to trade ex-dividend on this Thursday, 2 March. This means that any investors wishing to net this latest dividend from Woolies will have to own the shares by the end of tomorrow's trading session.
Then, eligible investors have until 6 March to opt for Woolworths' optional dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) if they wish to receive additional Woolworths shares in lieu of a cash payment.
Payment day will then come around on 13 April.
So, a lot happening for Woolworths investors this week.
At yesterday's closing Woolworths share price, this ASX 200 blue chip share has a dividend yield of 2.68%.
