Something will jump out at you if you take a look at the WAM Capital Ltd (ASX: WAM) share price right now. It's not the share price itself, although that is notable for reasons we'll get to momentarily. No, what's most striking about WAM Capital shares today is the absolutely stonking dividend yield this listed investment company (LIC) is apparently trading on.
Yesterday, WAM Capital shares closed at $1.18. That was down 0.42% for the session.
At that price, WAM Capital was allegedly trading on a trailing dividend yield of 13.19%.
Yep, no typos, no misplaced decimal points. 13.19%.
The prospect of a 13.2% yield is more than enough to grab any investor's attention, regardless of whether they even invest primarily for income. After all, that implies that one would get back roughly $132 a year for every $1,000 invested. Incredible cash flow if accurate.
The market rarely offers up these sorts of opportunities, so is this a case of 'too good to be true'?
Well, let's work our way backwards to find out. WAM Capital has paid out two dividends over the past 12 months. The first was the October 2025 final dividend worth 7.75 cents per share. The second, the interim dividend from May, was also worth 7.75 cents per share. That 15.5 cents per share in dividends over the past 12 months gives WAM Capital that 13.2% yield at the current $1.18 share price.
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Is the 13.2% dividend yield on WAM Capital shares for real?
Case closed, right? Well, not exactly. As any good dividend investor knows, a trailing yield only tells us what an investment has paid out over the past 12 months. It doesn't tell us a lot about what it might fund over the coming 12 months.
As we've discussed many times this year, there were many warning signs that WAM Capital was digging itself into a bit of a hole when it came to future payout ability. Its profit reserve, from which dividends can be funded, has all but run dry. WAM Capital itself acknowledged this reality last month. That was when the company told investors that:
Since FY2020, the Board has maintained WAM Capital's full year dividend at 15.5 cents per share. Over that period, the dividends paid by the Board exceeded the profits generated, drawing down the Company's accumulated profits reserve. Maintaining the dividend at 15.5 cents per share is no longer sustainable with the profits reserve available.
As a result, WAM Capital has told investors to only expect a total of 8 cents per share (two dividends worth 4 cents each) over 2027. Those will come partially franked at 60%. That's a cut worth 48.4%. Ouch.
If that is accurate (WAM Capital could downgrade it even further if necessary), WAM Capital shares would have a forward yield of 6.84% at current prices. Not 13.2%.
Of course, that is still a fairly sizeable yield. But bear in mind that it is largely a result of this LIC's share price collapse in 2026. Since the start of the year, WAM Capital shares have lost more than 35.3% of their value, including 22.5% since this dividend cut was announced. It's also worth noting that, as of 31 August, WAM Capital only had 5.7 cents in its profit reserve. This means that, as of today, it doesn't even have the cash on hand to fund 8 cents per share worth of dividends.
Investors might wish to tread very cautiously indeed here.
