BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have come roaring back since their pandemic lows and delivered shareholders some outsized passive income along the way.
The years 2021 and 2022 were particularly rewarding for passive income investors holding shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore miner.
With iron ore, copper and coal prices running high over much of that time, BHP shares paid out a record final dividend in 2021 and a record interim dividend in 2022. Both fully franked.
Perhaps even more impressively, the iron ore miner also paid two dividends in 2020, despite the COVID-19 virus wreaking havoc on the markets and the BHP share price at the time.
Which got me thinking.
If a brave investor had gauged the sell-off correctly and bought $7,000 worth of BHP shares at the pandemic lows, just how much passive income would they have banked already?
How much passive income have BHP shares paid since 20 March 2020?
Like the ASX 200 and most stocks, BHP hit its pandemic sell-off lows on 20 March 2020, trading for $27.01 a share.
Meaning your $7,000 investment would have gotten you 259 BHP shares with some pocket change left over.
The miner's share price has rebounded 67% from that low, currently trading for $45.23.
In itself, that would have turned your $7,000 investment into $11,715 today.
But what about that passive income?
Well, you would have just missed the 2020 interim dividend, as the stock traded ex-dividend on 5 March.
But you would have been eligible for the final 2020 dividend of 75.5 cents per share.
In 2021, you would have received the interim dividend of $1.311 per share and the final dividend of $2.715 per share.
Then 2022 saw BHP shares pay out an interim dividend of $2.81 per share and a final dividend of $2.552 per share.
And so far this year, the ASX 200 miner has paid an interim dividend of $1.364 per share. If you own the stock, that last lot of passive income will have landed in your bank account on 30 March.
So, just how much passive income does that add up to?
Well, according to my handy calculator, a total of $10.778 per share.
Which means the 259 BHP shares you bought on the pandemic dip for $7,000 will already have delivered $2,791.50 of passive income, with some potential tax benefits.
