ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares are having a tough time on Thursday.
At the time of writing, the banking giant's shares are down 5.5% to $36.72.
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Why are ANZ shares sinking?
Investors have been selling the big four bank's shares today for a couple of reasons.
One is weakness in the banking sector, which has seen fellow banks Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) shares drop by almost 2%.
The other reason is that ANZ's shares are trading ex-dividend today for its latest payout.
When this happens, it means the rights to an upcoming dividend are locked in and new buyers won't be entitled to this payout when it is made.
As a dividend forms part of a company's valuation, its share price will tend to fall in line with the value of the dividend on the ex-dividend date.
The ANZ dividend
Earlier this week, ANZ released its full year results for FY 2025. It reported a statutory profit of $5,891 million, which was down 10% from the prior year, and a flat cash profit (excluding significant items) of $6,896 million.
Management advised that this result was reflective of both the strength of ANZ's franchise and the importance of executing its long-term strategy. It highlighted that its institutional and New Zealand divisions performed well, while Australian retail and business banking remained competitive.
This ultimately allowed the bank to declare a 70% franked final dividend of 83 cents per share for FY 2025, which brought its full year dividend to 166 cents per share. This was in line with what it paid to shareholders a year ago.
It is that final dividend of 83 cents per share that ANZ's shares are going ex-dividend for today.
Eligible shareholders can now look forward to receiving this dividend in their nominated accounts next month on 19 December.
Should you buy the dip?
The team at Morgans doesn't think investors should be buying ANZ shares. The broker responded to its results by putting a trim rating and $33.09 price target on them. It said:
Ex $1.1bn of significant items, 2H25 profit declined 7% vs 1H25, with a -3% decline in pre-provision profit (revenue +2%, costs +6%) and a doubling of credit impairment charges. Earnings were materially below market expectations, albeit consensus may not have fully adjusted for the significant items. We have downgraded our FY26-28F cash earnings by 1-2%. However, 12 month target price lifts 29 cps to $33.09/sh due to CET1 capital outperformance in 2H25. We recommend clients TRIM into share price strength, with the share price and implied valuation multiples trading at or around all-time highs.
