WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) shares closed higher on Tuesday, up 0.29% to $91.89 apiece.
ASX tech shares aren't known for paying dividends because many of them are young growth companies.
This means they typically choose to reinvest all their free cash flow and/or profits into further growth.
But Wisetech is a 30-year old business and also the largest technology share on the ASX.
It began paying dividends back in 2017.
The logistics software provider has a remarkable history of raising its dividends.
Every interim and final dividend — bar the final dividend in the first year of COVID — has been higher than the previous payment.
The latest dividend announced by Wisetech was the interim payment for 1H FY24.
That was a fully-franked 7.7 cents per share dividend, up almost 17% on the 1H FY23 payment of 6.6 cents per share.
This came on the back of a 32% rise in revenue to $500 million and a 23% EBITDA lift to $230 million.
What will the Wisetech dividend be in 2024, 2025 and 2026?
The consensus analyst forecast published on CommSec is for Wisetech shares to pay dividends of 16.4 cents per share this year.
The analysts expect an increase to 22.2 cents in 2025 and 29.1 cents in 2026.
Let's calculate the dividend yields using yesterday's closing share price.
A $10,000 budget (minus a brokerage fee of $5) will buy you 108 Wisetech shares at that price.
Total spend = $9,924.12.
If we multiply 108 shares by 16.4 cents, we get a total annual dividend amount of $17.71. That's a dividend yield of 0.18%.
Yep, tiny.
In 2025, the dividend payment is anticipated to be $23.98. That's a dividend yield of 0.24%.
In 2026, the dividend payment is tipped to be $31.43. That's a dividend yield of 0.32%.
Yep, still tiny.
But here's why you probably don't care.
Wisetech share price up 297% in 5 years
Here's a chart showing how the Wisetech share price has grown over the past five years.
As you can see, the tech stock is up a whopping 297%.
Over the past 12 months, Wisetech stock has risen 39%.
Wisetech is predominantly an ASX growth stock. This is why investors buy it. They're after the potential capital gains.
That's not to say that Wisetech won't become a better dividend payer in the future. This will depend on the company's growth and how its strategy may change over time.
What's next for Wisetech shares?
E&P Financial Group analysts say Wisetech is one of four ASX shares likely to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
The analysts say Wisetech is likely to benefit from the software side of the AI explosion.
E&P said:
[Wisetech is] extremely well positioned for this trend, with a decent swath of AI capabilities already, and a completely unique data capability to build from.
Fund manager Wilson Asset Management says Wisetech is demonstrating "its ability to integrate its recently-acquired businesses called Blume and Envase, without losing the organic growth momentum."
