It has been another disappointing day of trade for the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price.
Earlier today, the banking giant's shares dropped to a new 52-week low of $19.26. While this is disappointing, it does mean that the dividend yield on offer with its shares is widening.
In light of this, let's now take a look to see what is expected from the Westpac dividend in the coming years.
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What are analysts forecasting for the Westpac dividend?
According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, as with the rest of the big four, its analysts are expecting the Westpac dividend to increase consistently through to FY 2024.
In case you missed it, in FY 2021 Australia's oldest bank rewarded its shareholders with a $1.18 per share fully franked dividend.
Goldman expects this to be lifted to $1.23 per share in FY 2022. Based on the current Westpac share price, this implies a potential fully franked dividend yield of almost 6.4%.
Pleasingly, the broker then expects the bank to increase its dividend to a fully franked $1.29 per share in FY 2023. This equates to a very generous 6.7% yield for investors at today's prices.
Finally, a 17 cents per share increase is forecast in FY 2024, bringing the Westpac dividend to $1.46 per share. If Goldman's estimate proves accurate, this will mean a sizeable fully franked 7.5% dividend yield for investors.
Is the Westpac share price in the buy zone?
The note reveals that Goldman Sachs only has a neutral rating on the Westpac share price at the moment.
However, with a price target of $27.29, this still implies significant potential upside of approximately 41% for investors over the next 12 months. That's not bad at all for a neutral rating!
