It hasn't been a great Thursday trading session for Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares. At the time of writing, this leading ASX 200 energy stock has retreated by 0.27%, leaving the Woodside share price at $25.84.
But Woodside investors on the ASX still have a reason to smile today. That's because it's finally dividend payday for the oil giant.
Back in August, we discussed Woodside's latest earnings report, covering the six months to 30 June. As we went into at the time, this report was tough for shareholders to digest. Woodside reported a 19% drop in revenues to US$5.99 billion, alongside a 13.9% fall in underlying net profits after tax to US$1.62 billion.
While statutory net profits spiked 11% to US$1.94 billion, it wasn't enough to save the company from announcing a 14% drop in its interim dividend.
Yep, investors found out that Woodside's interim dividend for 2024 would come in at 69 US cents ($1.02) per share. That's a far cry from the 80 US cents ($1.24) interim dividend investors enjoyed this time last year. But at least it's above the US 60-cent final dividend that was paid out back in April.
And we won't mention the $2.15 per share final dividend from 2022.
As is typical for Woodside, this latest dividend will come with full franking credits attached.
Dividend incoming
As we warned in August, Woodside set 5 September as this payment's ex-dividend date. So investors needed to own Woodside shares as of the market close on 4 September if they wished to get their names down for it.
On 11 September, Woodside revealed that its US 69 cents per share payment would translate to that $1.02 per share amount.
For those eligible investors, today is payday.
All shareholders that qualify for today's dividend will receive it in cash sometime today. That's because Woodside is not operating a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) for this payout, so there was no option for investors to receive additional Woodside shares in lieu of cash. So if you owned Woodside shares as of 4 September, it might be time to check your bank or brokerage account.
Woodside share price snapshot
Despite today's dividend payout, it hasn't been a good year for Woodside investors. This ASX 200 energy stock remains down a painful 17.85% over 2024 to date, as well as down just under 26% over the past 12 months:
At the current Woodside share price, the oil and gas company has a trailing dividend yield of 7.5%.
