Looking at the big four ASX 200 bank shares today, one bank clearly stands out above the rest.
Investors who buy the ASX banks tend to do so for one reason – dividend income. All four of the ASX's major banks have a well-deserved reputation as income heavyweights, with decades-long track records of doling out regular, hefty payments to their investors.
If someone was looking at the four major bank shares today and trying to decide which one to pick for dividends, it would be ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) that would probably take their fancy.
Right now, ANZ decisively leads its big four peers when it comes to upfront dividend yield.
As it stands today, ANZ shares offer a trailing dividend yield of 5.82%.
That runs rings around the other big four bank stocks. For example, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares offer a dividend yield of just 3.3% today. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) are more competitive, but these banks still trade on yields of 5.06% and 5.09%, respectively.
Put another way, if all four keep their payouts over the past 12 months steady, investing $10,000 into ANZ shares will bag an investor $582 in annual dividend income. That compares to $330 one could expect from CBA, or $506 and $509 from Westpac and NAB.
As such, we can conclude that ANZ shares are still the leaders in dividend income.
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ANZ shares led the big four banks in dividend income
However, before investors rush out and load up on ANZ shares, there is one caveat that we should mention. ANZ's dividends, unlike those of the other major ASX banks, don't typically come with full franking credits attached.
The last two payments from NAB, Westpac, and CBA were all fully franked. However, as we discussed last week, neither of ANZ's last two dividends came with full franking credits attached. Last July's 83 cents per share interim dividend was partially franked at 65%. December's final dividend, also worth 83 cents per share, was franked at 70%.
Now, on paper, ANZ's dividend still results in the most bang for the buck. To illustrate, if we gross up NAB's 5.09% yield with those full franking credits, we get a grossed-up yield of 7.27%. Today, ANZ's grossed-up yield would come out at approximately 7.5%, even with that partial franking.
As such, we can conclude that, at least when it comes to dividend income, ANZ stands out from the pack today. Let's see what kind of dividends investors bag over the rest of 2025 from ANZ shares.
