It's been a day of red ink so far this Wednesday on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has slipped by a meaningful 0.88% this session thus far to 7,300 points. But that's nothing compared to the apparent woes of the Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price.
ASX 200 energy share Woodside closed at $37.62 a share yesterday. But the company opened at just $35.20 a share this morning and has fallen even further to $34.77 at present.
So what's going on with Woodside? Why are we witnessing the Woodside share price wilt by a whopping 7.6% this Wednesday?
Well, there has been some news out of Woodside today. The company announced this morning that directors Dr Sarah Ryan and Dr Christopher Haynes are both standing down from Woodside's board of directors.
This will be effective from Woodside's annual general meeting on 28 April next month. The company has announced that Arnaud Breuillac is to join the board in their place, with Angela Minas also nominated for membership.
But it seems unlikely that these changes at the top are what's weighing on Woodside shares.
No, today's share price falls can largely be attributed to Woodside trading ex-dividend.
Woodside share price falls after going ex-dividend
Last month, during its full-year results for FY2023, Woodside reported some pleasing metrics. These included a 142% rise in revenues and a 223% spike in net profits. This enabled the company to announce a record final dividend of US$1.44 per share. This is scheduled to hit investors' bank accounts on 5 April.
However, eligibility for this monster payout has just closed. Woodside shares have traded ex-dividend for the company's final dividend payment this morning. That means that anyone who buys Woodside shares from today onwards will not be receiving this latest dividend payment.
As such, the value of this dividend has left the Woodside share price – making the shares intrinsically less valuable. That's why we are seeing a big drop in the Woodside share price this Wednesday, as is typical when a share goes ex-dividend.
It should be mentioned that Woodside would probably be having a tough day anyway, even if it wasn't going ex-dividend. Most of Woodside's peers in the ASX 200 energy sector are falling in value this session.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) are both down by more than 1% so far. And Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR) is down 2.5%.
Today's falls put the Woodside share price down by 1.74% in 2023 to date:
At the current Woodside share price, this ASX 200 energy share has a dividend yield of 10.85%.
