BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have handed investors some fantastic gains over the past 12 months.
On Monday, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant were trading for $60.71 apiece. That sees the share price up an impressive 51.7% since this time last year, smashing the ASX 200's 0.9% 12-month loss.
And that's not including the two fully-franked interim dividends BHP paid out over this time.
Amid rising revenue and profits, BHP's FY 2026 dividend payouts, totalling $2.419 a share, were up 41.6% from FY 2025. If you owned BHP shares at market close on 2 September, you can expect to see the final FY 2026 passive income payout hit your bank account this Wednesday, 23 September.
At Monday's prices, BHP shares trade on a fully-franked trailing dividend yield of 4%.
So, after this stellar 12-month run, is the Aussie mining giant still a good buy today?
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BHP shares: Buy, hold, or sell?
Catapult Wealth's Dylan Evans recently analysed the outlook for the booming miner, which now counts as the biggest stock by market cap on the ASX (courtesy of The Bull).
"The global miner's full year results were impressive, with the company increasing revenue and profit," he said.
Evans noted:
Growth was driven by the copper division, which is now the primary revenue generator for BHP. As a result, future earnings will be influenced by the copper price, but the price should be underpinned by several long-term themes, including electrification and growing digital infrastructure.
But, following on the strong one-year run, Evans issued a hold recommendation on BHP shares for now.
"BHP is a core holding. However, the share price has risen substantially in the past 12 months to the point where it can appear expensive," he concluded.
What's the latest copper news from the ASX 200 mining stock?
As Evans mentioned above, FY 2026 marked the first year in which copper surpassed iron ore in driving BHP's earnings and supporting BHP's share price growth.
Commenting on its copper operations, the ASX 200 mining stock noted:
Spot copper prices on average were 26% higher in FY26, with H2 FY26 experiencing increases of nearly 40% as copper moved to >US$13,000/t (US$5.90/lb). The copper price continues to be supported by strong fundamentals on the demand and supply side, driven by a compelling narrative for copper-intensive sectors, particularly electrification and data centres and the risk of future supply deficits.
BHP reported a 48% year-on-year increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from its copper division to US$18.2 billion. That saw copper production contribute 54% of BHP's total underlying EBITDA in FY 2026.
