Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) coal shares are down 4.1% in late morning trade today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) coal stock closed yesterday trading for $7.01. Shares are currently changing hands for $6.73 apiece.
Despite today's retrace, Whitehaven shares remain up 33% over the past 12 months, buoyed by record thermal coal prices in 2022.
And remember, those gains don't include the two outsized, fully franked dividend payments the ASX 200 energy share handed to investors over the full year.
Indeed, ASX investors after passive income have been well-rewarded by Whitehaven.
The company shared its soaring profits with stockholders with an all-time high final and all-time high interim dividend.
Whitehaven paid out a final dividend of 40 cents per share on 16 September. The interim dividend of 32 cents per share will have hit investors' bank accounts on 10 March.
All told the coal miner paid out 72 cents per share in total dividends over the past 12 months.
At the current share price that works out to a trailing yield of 10.7%. Or a helpful $107 in annual passive income from a $1,000 investment, with potential tax benefits.
You won't hear many people complaining about that kind of dividend yield.
Yet some investors will be earning a good bit more passive income from their Whitehaven shares.
We'll look at that below.
First, please be aware that we're discussing trailing yields here. Whitehaven's future dividends could be higher or lower depending on numerous company-specific and broader macroeconomic factors.
Did you buy Whitehaven shares last June?
June 2022 represented an excellent time to top up on Whitehaven shares.
Admittedly I write that with 20:20 hindsight today, enabling me to cherry-pick 24 June as the monthly closing low.
But brave investors – or those who were well advised – who waded in to buy the coal stock following a lengthy slide will have been amply rewarded.
How amply?
On 24 June Whitehaven shares closed the day at $4.52 apiece,
If you'd bought the coal stock then you'd be sitting on a 49% share price gain in less than 11 months.
Even better, from a passive income perspective, you'd be earning a yield of 15.9% on those Whitehaven shares. That's 5.2% more than investors who bought in at current prices are receiving.
It also works out to a very tidy $159 of annual dividend income, 100% franked, from your $1,000 investment.
Happy dividend investing!
