Earnings season is rolling on this week, with several prominent S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares dropping their latest numbers today. Amongst those shares was energy stock Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD). Income investors may want to have a read to check out Ampol's latest dividend, because it's a doozy.
As we covered this morning, it was a bumper set of numbers that Ampol dropped for the first half of its FY2026. The company reported group earnings of $1.64 billion, up a whopping 152% on what it reported for the first half of FY2025. Net profit after tax (NPAT) (excluding significant Items) roared 376% higher to $857 million, while the company reported a statutory NPAT of $1.36 billion. That was up from a loss of $25 million last year.
But let's get down to the dividends.
Over the past 12 months, Ampol has doled out a total of $1 per share in dividend payments to its investors. That $1 broke down into an interim dividend of 40 cents per share from last September. As well as a 60 cents per share final dividend from April. As is Ampol's habit, both of these payments came with full franking credits attached.
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Ampol shares lift as new monster dividend unveiled
However, what Ampol unveiled this morning puts those payments to shame. Investors just found out that they can expect an interim dividend of $1.85 per share in 2026, up an astonishing 362.5% over the equivalent payout from 2025. It will come fully franked as well.
Together with that final April dividend, this takes Ampol's 2026 payouts to a hefty $2.45 per share.
Ampol has nominated 4 September next month as its ex-dividend date for this latest payout. So if investors want to receive this monster Ampol dividend, but don't yet own shares, they will need to buy some before the close of trade on 3 September. Payment day will then roll aorund on 30 September.
Ampol does not currently offer a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP). As such, shareholders will have no option but to accept this dividend as a cash payment.
At the time of writing, the market has reacted positively to Ampol's earnings, giving the company's shares a 2.5% boost up to $40.85 each. At this share price, Ampol is trading on a trailing dividend yield of 2.45%. However, this dramatically increased new dividend now gives the company a much-improved forward yield of 6%.
That's certainly worthy of a closer look if you are a dividend investor looking for income on the ASX today.
