Of the dividends that are coming ASX investors' way this month, the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) dividend must surely be among the most anticipated.
Like its contemporaries in the mining space, the last few years have seen record dividends from Rio Tinto. That's thanks largely to historically high commodity prices.
Rio announced its half-year earnings back in July. Back then, investors might have initially experienced disappointment with what the company reported in terms of revenue and earnings.
But they might also have been disappointed that Rio did not declare a special dividend to accompany its interim payment. For the past few years, Rio has included a special dividend payment alongside its regular dividends. But not this time.
Saying that, it might be hard to dismiss the fact that the US$2.76 per share fully-franked interim dividend will be the second-highest ever doled out by Rio Tinto.
Unfortunately for would-be Rio investors, the company's shares have already traded ex-dividend for this upcoming payment. The ex-dividend date was way back on 11 August.
So anyone who has bought Rio Tinto shares since will be ineligible for this payment. But eligible investors will only see the cash (or additional shares, if the dividend reinvestment plan is preferred) next week on 22 August.
The ASX will be closed on that day due to the public holiday commemorating the late Queen Elizabeth II. But Rio's dividend is still scheduled to be paid out then.
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Rio Tinto's next dividend finally revealed
But today, investors got some happy news to keep the home fires burning until next week's payday. Rio has announced the final amount that ASX investors are set to receive.
The miner normally declared its dividend payments in US dollars when first announced. It then announces what its investors will receive in the local currency closer to the date, based on prevailing exchange rates.
So we already know that next week's dividend would be worth US$2.76 per share. But today, we found out that ASX investors can expect a payment of $3.837 per share in our currency.
Rio Tinto shares will have a trailing dividend yield of 10.39% on the current pricing when the dividend is paid. That's 11.32% if we include the value of the special dividend from earlier this year as well.
