Today is a great day for Australian income investors.
That's because 28 September is payday for shareholders of some of the largest companies on the Australian share market.
Among the ASX 200 companies that will be paying dividends today are the following:
- BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
- Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)
- Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG)
- Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)
- Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)
- Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)
How much is being paid to investors in ASX dividends?
A staggering amount of money will be distributed to shareholders on Wednesday.
For example, ASX giants BHP and CBA will collectively be paying out over $10 billion in dividends to their shareholders today.
BHP will be paying a fully franked 80 US cents per share final dividend, which is the equivalent of US$4.1 billion (A$6.4 billion). Whereas Australia's largest bank declared a fully franked final dividend of $2.40 per share last month, which equates to a total payout of $4.023 billion
Fortescue may have slashed its fully franked dividends in FY 2023, but it is still paying out $1.00 per share today. This represents a total distribution of approximately $3.1 billion.
Elsewhere, ASX energy giant Woodside is paying a fully franked interim dividend of 80 US cents per share, which is the equivalent of US$1.52 billion (A$2.382 billion). Shareholders of rival energy producer Santos will receive an 8.7 US cents (13.6 Australian cents) per share interim dividend today. This means US$283 million (A$444 million) is being returned to its shareholders this morning.
Insurance giant IAG is paying a partially franked 9 cents per share final dividend, which equates to a total payout of $220 million.
Finally, over at Telstra, it will be rewarding its shareholders with a fully franked 8.5 cents per share final dividend. This represents a billion-dollar distribution from the telco giant.
Here's a quick summary of those payments:
- BHP – $6.4 billion
- CBA – $4.02 billion
- Fortescue – $3.1 billion
- IAG – $220 million
- Santos – $444 million
- Telstra – $1 billion
- Woodside – $2.38 billion
That is a total of approximately $17.5 billion in ASX dividends heading to shareholders today. It might be time to buy some consumer stocks!
