It's fair to say that investors loved the latest earnings report out of Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) that we saw last week. Last Monday, Woolworths dropped its full-year report covering the 2023 financial year.
As we covered at the time, the grocery giant revealed that its FY23 revenues came in at $64.29 billion, a 5.7% rise over FY22. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 12.7% to $5.69 billion, while net profit after tax rose 13.7% to $1.72 billion.
There was something special for income investors too. Woolworths announced that its final dividend for FY23 would be worth 58 cents per share, a rise of 9.4%. That's the highest dividend, final or otherwise, that Woolies has paid out since 2014. This final payout brings the full-year Woolworths dividend to a fully franked $1.04 per share, a 13% increase over FY22.
So no doubt many investors will be looking forward to receiving this latest whopper of a dividend from Woolworths. But what would one need to do in order to secure it?
How to bag the next Woolworths dividend
Well, it's quite simple. For an investor to obtain this dividend payment, they will need to own Woolworths shares before the ex-dividend date.
For this latest Woolworths dividend, the company has set the ex-dividend date for 31 August, this Thursday. So anyone who owns Woolies shares as of market close tomorrow will get the 58 cents per share payout. Anyone who buys Woolworths shares from Thursday 31 August onwards, misses out this time.
Payment day (for eligible investors) is then scheduled for 27 September next month.
Woolworths' dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) is available for this payment. So for any investors wishing to receive additional Woolworths shares in lieu of a cash payment, they will need to make sure their preference is recorded before close of business on Monday 4 September.
At yesterday's closing share price of $37.85, Woolworths shares have a dividend yield of 2.75%.
