It's been a wavering start to the trading day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Tuesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained just 0.09% and is back below 6,860 points. But it's still ahead of the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price.
CSL shares are down 0.1% at the time of writing. The ASX 200 healthcare giant closed at $294.80 a share yesterday. It opened at $294.42 this morning and is now trading at $294.50 at the time of writing.
This doesn't exactly appear to be a strong session for CSL shares, given the ASX 200 is slightly outperforming these gains so far. But it is if we factor in what has just happened to the CSL share price. The company has just traded ex-dividend today for the upcoming final dividend payment for FY22.
When CSL revealed its full-year earnings report for FY22 last month, it declared a final dividend of US$1.18 per share. That translates to $1.68 per share, partially franked at 10%.
As we discussed yesterday, this was flat in US dollar terms on last year's final dividend. But thanks to favourable currency exchange rates, ASX investors will enjoy a 5.6% boost from what they received last year.
The dividend is scheduled to be paid out next month on 5 October, so investors will have to wait until then to see the cash.
CSL share price rises, despite ex-dividend date
But CSL shares traded ex-dividend for this upcoming final payment today. That means that any new investors in CSL from today are not eligible to receive this dividend.
Normally, when a company trades ex-dividend, we see a corresponding drop in the company's share price. This reflects the reality that CSL shares are less valuable, thanks to the fact that the dividend is no longer available for new investors.
Today, we have seen no such obvious drop. That means that CSL is having a fairly strong day – if it weren't for the ex-dividend date, the company would probably be enjoying gains.
So arguably, this is a very happy day for CSL investors.
At the current CSL share price, this ASX 200 healthcare share has a dividend yield of 1.02%.
