Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares have paid a dividend to shareholders every year for decades. Most ASX bank shares do pay a dividend, so it will be an interesting exercise to compare CBA to the others.
The Commonwealth Bank continued to pay a solid dividend during the COVID-19-hit financial year of 2020 with a payment of $2.98 per share.
The annual payout has been steadily increasing since 2020 to reflect the recovery from the worrisome trading conditions during COVID-19.
In the latest result, being the half-year period to 31 December 2022, we saw the interim dividend per share increase by 20% to $2.10 per share, which is a very solid increase.
But what could the next few dividends from CBA shares look like?
Projections of dividends from CBA shares
The current projection on Commsec, which uses independent analyst data, suggests that CBA could pay an annual dividend per share of $4.35 in FY23, which would be an increase of 13%.
If CBA does pay that dividend payout, it would be a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.2%.
Projections on Commsec then suggest that CBA shares could pay a dividend per share of $4.41 in FY24, which would represent an increase of 1.4%. If that ends up being the actual payout, it'd be a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.3%.
The potential dividend yields from the ASX bank share for FY23 and FY24 are far better than what savers can get from the bank accounts offered by CBA, though the shares come with equity risk, of course.
Which ASX bank share offers the best dividend yield?
Let's look at CBA's major bank peers.
Using Commsec estimates, in FY24, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares are projected to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 9.5%, ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares are estimated to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 9.6%, and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) is projected to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 8.8%.
There's quite a difference between what the yield from CBA shares might be and what the other three big ASX bank shares are going to pay.
Two of the smaller ASX bank shares could also pay larger yields.
In FY24, Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) shares might pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 10.5% and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) shares could pay a grossed-up dividend yield of around 10%.
So, it seems that all of the main ASX bank shares are going to pay a bigger dividend yield than CBA.
The biggest dividend yield may not always be the best. If the lower-yielding dividend is more resilient or growing faster, then it could be the better option.
However, due to the fact that CBA operates in the same industry as the other ASX bank shares, I think I'd rather go for one of the other ASX bank shares, such as NAB, that could provide better dividend income.
