One of the worst performers on the S&P/ASX 200 index on Wednesday has been the Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price.
In morning trade the regional bank's shares failed to follow the rest of the banking industry higher and dropped a sizeable 4.5% to $8.85.
Why is the Bank of Queensland share price tumbling lower?
Today's decline is attributable in full to the company's shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its interim dividend.
In fact, had its shares not been trading ex-dividend, they would be joining the likes of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) by pushing higher this afternoon.
Incidentally, ANZ's shares are trading over 3% higher following its half year results release and Westpac's shares are up over 2% despite announcing further provisions for remediation.
When is Bank of Queensland paying its dividend?
Eligible Bank of Queensland shareholders can now look forward to being paid its interim 34 cents per share fully franked interim dividend in three weeks on May 22.
Alternatively, they can take advantage of the company's dividend reinvestment plan which offers a 1.5% discount.
Should you invest?
Whilst I wouldn't be a seller of Bank of Queensland's shares if I owned them, I'd like to see them drop down a bit further before I'd consider buying them.
Until then I think the big four banks offer investors better value for money.
My preferred pick continues to be ANZ. I believe it is well-positioned to deliver underlying earnings per share growth over the coming years due to its cost cutting opportunities and share buyback opportunities due to its strong capital position.
And although its shares price has rallied notably higher today, I don't believe it is too late to snap up the banking giant's shares today.
