AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) shares have indisputably lost some of the dividend prowess this company used to be famous for on the ASX.
One only needs to take a look at some of the dividends this energy generator and retailer paid out to investors in times gone by.
AGL gave their investors a total of $1.17 per share in dividend income back in 2018, followed by $1.19 per share in 2019.
But ever since then, the income that this company has been doling out has dried up dramatically. 2021 saw a total of 75 cents given to investors in dividends per share, which dropped again to 26 cents per share in 2022.
Thankfully for investors, this year has seen something of a turnaround when it comes to dividend income. AGL's last dividend – the interim payment from March – totalled just 8 cents per share. But last month, AGL delivered its latest earnings, covering the full 2023 financial year.
In these earnings, AGL revealed that its final dividend for 2023 would come in at an unfranked 23 cents per share.
That's almost triple the company's 2023 interim dividend and more than double last year's corresponding final payment of 10 cents per share.
Even more happily for investors, today is the day that this dividend arrives in the bank account.
Yep, after AGL shares traded ex-dividend for this payment on Wednesday, 23 August, payment day is today, Friday, 22 September.
For someone holding 1,000 shares, they can expect to receive $230 in dividend income today.
As of yesterday's closing share price of $10.79, AGL shares are trading on a dividend yield of 2.87%.
AGL share price snapshot
The AGL share price has experienced a remarkable recovery over 2023 so far. Since the start of the year, this utility stock has gained a whopping 34.2%. That stretches to 62.5% over the past 12 months.
However, the company is still a long way off (more than 60%) from its all-time high of almost $30 a share that we saw way back in 2017:
