CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares may not be one of the most popular dividend options because historically it has had a low dividend yield.
For many years, the ASX healthcare share had a lower dividend yield than all other ASX blue-chip shares including Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) or Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS).
The CSL dividend has grown significantly over the last two decades, but the dividend yield was so low because it usually had a fairly high price/earnings (P/E) ratio with the market pricing it for long-term earnings growth.
But, the company's growth outlook has significantly diminished over the last couple of years, which is largely why the CSL share price has dropped by approximately 66% since July 2024.
The latest result from CSL demonstrated the difficulties it's facing.
For the six months to 31 December 2025, the half-year report showed a total revenue decline of 4% to US$6.3 billion, underlying net profit (NPATA excluding restructuring costs and impairments) fell 7% to US$1.9 billion and reported net profit sank 81% to just US$0.4 billion.
However, after such a painful decline of the CSL share price in recent times, the projected payout now translates into a sizeable dividend yield, so we can consider the ASX healthcare share giant as an option for dividends.
So, let's look at the potential annual FY27 dividend payment, which will be paid in 2027.
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2027 dividend projection for owners of CSL shares
According to the projection on CMC Invest, the ASX healthcare share is forecast to pay an annual dividend per share of (AU) $4.27 in the 2027 financial year. This would represent a sizeable reduction compared to the FY25 annual payout. The FY26 payout is expected to be even lower, so the FY27 payout would represent a bit of a recovery.
At the time of writing, that projected payout translates into a possible dividend yield of 4%, excluding any possible franking credits. The business generates most of its earnings overseas, so it doesn't generate many franking credits to pay to shareholders.
If someone were to invest $8,000 in CSL, they would be able to buy 75 CSL shares with a bit of money left over.
With those 75 CSL shares, investors could receive $320.25 of cash and, I'm assuming, no franking credits.
Is this a good time to invest in the ASX healthcare share?
According to CMC Invest, there have been 11 analyst rating calls on the business in the last three months.
Of those 11, three were a buy and eight were a hold. So, the investment professionals are, on average, neutral of the company's valuation right now.
The average price target of those 11 ratings is $136.05. That means, collectively, those analysts are predicting the CSL share price could rise 29% over the next year (at the time of writing).
The business last traded at that price in April 2026, so it's not an outrageous prediction – just a recovery back to where it was a couple of months ago.
It seems like it could be worthwhile to consider being contrarian on CSL shares, though there are plenty of ASX shares out there where the foreseeable outlook is more certain.
