Almost two weeks ago, ASX healthcare stock Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) reported its latest earnings (and dividend), covering the full 2024 financial year.
As we reported at the time, investors didn't seem too impressed with what the country's largest private health insurer had to show for itself. The Medibank share price fell 2.3% on reporting day, but has recovered all of that ground and more since.
For the 12 months to 30 June 2024, Medibank revealed that it enjoyed revenues worth $8.18 billion, up 4.7% year on year.
That helped push group operating profits up 7.9% to $699.8 million and underlying net profits after tax up 14.1% to $570.4 million.
But let's talk about what Medibank had to show in terms of dividend income.
Medibank declared a final dividend of 9.4 cents per share for 2024. As is this insurer's habit, this dividend will be attached to full franking credits.
This was big news for shareholders as 9.4 cents per share is the largest single dividend that Medibank has ever paid out in its near-decade-long history as an ASX stock. It represents a 13.25% rise over the final dividend of 8.3 cents per share that investors enjoyed last year.
Pairing this payout with the March interim dividend of 7.2 cents per share (also fully franked), it takes the company's 2024 payouts to an annual total of 16.6 cents per share, again a 13.7% rise over 2023's total of 14.6 cents per share.
How to secure Medibank's record final dividend
If you wish to see this supersized dividend arrive in your bank account, time's running out. Medibank has scheduled this Wednesday, 4 September, as this payment's ex-dividend date.
That means that anyone with Medibank Private stock to their name as of tomorrow's market close will be eligible to receive this payment. However, anyone who buys Medibank shares during or after Wednesday's session will leave the rights to this payment behind with the seller.
So expect to see a bit of a drop in the Medibank Private share price when this occurs, reflecting this loss of value for investors going forward.
Dividend payday for shareholders who qualify will then roll around later this month on 26 September.
Medibank Private doesn't currently run a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP), so shareholders have no option but to receive the traditional cash payment.
At the current (at the time of writing) share price of $3.96, Medibank stock currently trades on a dividend yield of 4.21%.
