The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is tumbling today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) coal stock closed yesterday trading for $6.72. At the time of writing, shares are changing hands for $6.11 apiece, down 9.2%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is flat at this same time.
So, what's putting the coal miner under selling pressure today?
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Why are ASX 200 investors hitting the sell button?
Most ASX coal stocks are trading in the red today.
But the Whitehaven share price is falling particularly hard as the stock trades ex-dividend today.
That means investors buying the stock today will no longer be eligible to receive the all-time high final fully franked dividend of 42 cents per share. This accounts for much of the 61 cents per share loss posted at this time.
Management opted to divvy out the record dividend payment on the back of very strong FY 2023 results.
The coal miner paid 74 cents per share in dividends over the full financial year. At the current Whitehaven share price, that works out to a trailing yield of 12.1%.
This was fuelled by a 23.3% increase in FY23 revenue, which reached a record $6.1 billion over the 12 months. Net profits also hit record highs, up 36.7% year on year to $2.7 billion. And cash generated from Whitehaven's operations came in at $4.2 billion, up 62% from FY22.
Whitehaven share price snapshot
The Whitehaven share price is down 24% over the past 12 months.
Longer-term, the ASX 200 coal stock remains up 155% over two years.
