As an ASX 200 bank share, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) has always been a go-to investment for investors seeking dividend income.
Westpac shares have historically been some of the most generous dividend payers on the ASX. But this bank has had a patchy history when it comes to shareholder payouts in recent years.
Back in 2018, investors were enjoying annual dividend payments worth $1.88 per share. But 2020 saw this slow to a trickle, with the bank only doling out 31 cents per share that year.
The road to recovery from COVID has been fairly slow with Westpac too. Last year saw the bank pay out $1.18 in dividend income per share, certainly an improvement from 2020, but hardly a return to the glory days.
But what about 2022? What kind of dividend income would an investor receive from Westpac shares this year?
How are Westpac shares' dividend chops looking?
Well, let's find out. So we'll assume that an investor bought $20,000 worth of Westpac shares at the start of this year. The ASX bank closed up 2021 at a share price of $21.35, so we'll use that price as our reference point.
So $20,000 would have gotten our investor 936 Westpac shares at this price, with some extra left over.
Westpac's first dividend for 2022 came in June. This was a payment worth 61 cents per share, fully franked.
That was a pleasing rise on last year's interim dividend of 58 cents per share.
So our 936 Westpac shares would have resulted in a payment of $570.96 for this interim dividend. And that's all the dividend income you would have received this year so far.
But let's talk about the bank's final dividend for 2022. Westpac is scheduled to fork out a final dividend of 64 cents per share, also fully franked, on 20 December. Again, this is a decent rise over last year's final dividend of 60 cents per share.
So on 20 December, our investor can look forward to booking another $599.04 in dividend income.
This means that overall, our investor will be up for a total of $1,170 in dividend income for 2022 from our initial $20,000 investment, once 2022 has wrapped up.
That would equate to a yield of 5.85% on our originally invested cash. If we factor in Westpac's full franking credits, this would gross up to 8.36%.
At the current Westpac share price of $23.85 (at the time of writing), this ASX 200 bank has a trailing dividend yield of 5.25%.
