The New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) share price is taking a tumble on Monday morning.
At the time of writing, the coal miner's shares are down over 8% to $5.30.
Why is the New Hope share price taking a tumble today?
Thankfully, the weakness in the New Hope share price today isn't because of anything bad. Coal prices haven't crashed, nor has a broker just downgraded its shares.
In fact, today is actually a good day for shareholders despite what its share price might indicate.
That's because today is the day that New Hope shares trade ex-dividend for its upcoming interim dividend.
When a share trades ex-dividend, it means that the rights to its payout are now settled and any new buyers of its shares will not receive the dividend. They will instead stay with the seller.
In light of this, a share price will generally drop in line with the dividend to reflect this. After all, you wouldn't want to pay for something you won't receive.
The New Hope dividend
Last month, New Hope released its half-year results and reported a huge increase in its revenue and earnings thanks to higher coal prices.
For the six months ended 31 January, New Hope posted a 54% jump in revenue to $1.58 billion and a 102% increase in net profit after tax to $668.6 million.
This allowed the New Hope board to declare a fully franked 30 cents per share interim dividend, which was up 76% over the prior corresponding period.
But the coal miner didn't stop there. It also declared a fully franked 10 cents per share special dividend for the period, bringing its total dividends to 40 cents per share.
Based on the New Hope share price at Friday's close, this represents a 6.7% yield, which is almost in line with how much its shares have fallen today.
Eligible shareholders can now look forward to receiving this dividend at the start of next month on 3 May.
