Is this ASX 200 share with a dividend yield of 14% too good to be true?

Are Tabcorp shares an ASX 200 dividend buy?

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Key points

  • Tabcorp shares currently offer one of the highest dividend yields on the ASX 200 – coming in at close to 14% 
  • But experts are divided on whether the stock is a buy 
  • Meanwhile, there might be more to that gigantic dividend yield than meets the eye 

It's been a big year for S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gambling and entertainment share Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH), and those holding it for its dividends.

The company spun out its lotteries and Keno businesses into the Lottery Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLC) in May and posted a $6.8 billion profit in August while management committed to growth.

Potentially making the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) share more attractive, it currently offers investors a whopping 13.75% dividend yield.

The Tabcorp share price is trading at 94.5 cents at the time of writing.

But is the ASX 200 dividend share too good to be true? Here's what experts think.

Is this high-yielding ASX 200 dividend share a buy?

Tabcorp shares boast one of the highest yields on the ASX 200, having paid out 13 cents of dividends per share over the last 12 months. But is it a buy? Well, that depends on who you ask.

Plato Investment Management managing director Dr Don Hamson tips the stock as a buy, saying, courtesy of Livewire:

We think it's good value, and they're cycling some comparisons to a COVID-19 period when things were much tougher. So, they actually have recently announced some better results.

But the recent demerger has left a sour taste in the mouth of Hamson's peer, Wheelhouse Partners managing director and portfolio manager Alastair MacLeod.

The fundie prefers the spun-off entity, noting that Tabcorp's key management personnel went to the Lottery Corporation – a larger and "much higher-quality business".

Therefore, in MacLeod's books, the ASX 200 dividend great is a sell, as per the masthead.

It's also worth mentioning another key implication of the demerger – its impact on dividends.

Is the Tabcorp dividend yield too good to be true?

Tabcorp's yield is higher now than it was this time last year despite the company having paid out 14.5 cents of dividends per share in financial year 2021.

Indeed, exactly 12 months ago the ASX 200 share's dividend yield was just 2.76%.

That's because, as part of the split, the Lottery Corporation walked away with a huge chunk of Tabcorp's valuation. However, the full impact on its dividends hasn't quite been realised.

The latest Tabcorp dividend still included five months of earnings from the lotteries and Keno businesses. But they're no longer contributing to its bottom line.

Thus, the ASX 200 shares' dividend yield will likely look very different this time next year.

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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