BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have had a heck of a week. For one, the ASX 200 mining stock has shot more than 4.7% higher since this time last week. For another, BHP shares hit a new all-time record high on Wednesday, clocking an impressive $61.62 a share.
After recording a one-day gain of more than 2.5% twice this week, investors seemed to have cooled their jets today, with the mining giant currently down a nasty 2.14% at the time of writing to $60.71 a share.
Even so, BHP retains its newly minted place as the largest stock on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). That's a crown that the miner stole from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares after CBA tanked more than 10% on Wednesday.
We discussed some of the potential reasons for BHP's breakout performance this week on Wednesday. Although we can never be completely certain about these things, it looks as though inflationary fears and a galloping copper price are largely responsible.
But some ASX investors don't buy BHP shares for the expectation of capital gains. These investors are far more interested in the fat, fully franked dividends that BHP has made a habit of reliably providing for its investors.
So, let's talk about what kind of dividend yield you can expect from buying BHP shares today.
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What is the current dividend yield on BHP shares?
BHP has paid out a highly cyclical dividend in recent years, reflecting its cyclical nature as a mining stock. To illustrate, investors enjoyed a whopping $$4.63 per share in dividends across 2022, but just $1.71 in dividends per share over 2025.
Fortunately, this pattern has reversed more recently. The 'Big Australian's first dividend of 2026, paid out back in March, came in at $1.04 per share, a healthy rise over 2025's equivalent payout of 79 cents. Together with September's final dividend of 92 cents per share, BHP currently has a trailing 12-month total of $1.96 per share, fully franked. At the current BHP share price, this gives the miner a trailing dividend yield of 3.22%.
Of course, that indicates to us what BHP has paid out over the past 12 months, not what the miner will pay out going forward. There's no way to determine a future dividend until it is announced. If iron ore prices continue to hold up, and copper stays near its recent record highs, investors could be in for a treat. The opposite could also prove true, though, so let's see what BHP's final dividend later this year looks like.
