The ex-dividend date is an important one if you want to be eligible for a dividend payment — as long as you hold the shares up to and including that day, you’ll get your money. Or if the share price falls by more than the amount of the dividend itself, which is the theoretical loss in value on the day, you might be able to pick up a bargain.
We’ve already looked at three FTSE 100 companies reaching the critical date on Wednesday, 21 August, and here are three more:
HSBC Holdings
First-half earnings per share (EPS) at HSBC Holdings (LSE: HSBA) (NYSE:HBC.US) came in 20% ahead of the same period a year ago, despite revenue falling 7%. The bank announced a second interim dividend of 10 cents per share to match its first-quarter dividend and take the first-half total to 20 cents, for an overall rise of 11% on the same period last year.
For the year to December 2012, HSBC paid a dividend of 45 cents per share, yielding 4.5%. If this year’s payment should rise by the same 11% as the first half, we should see 50 cents for a yield of 4.6% on the latest share price of 714p.
InterContinental Hotels
On 6 August, InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG) reported “a good performance in the first half“, and announced a surprise special dividend of 133 cents per share as a way of returning $350m to shareholders.
That comes on top of a 10% rise in the interim dividend, to 23 cents per share, after EPS climbed 37% to 127.8¢. With the shares priced at 1,961p, InterContinental’s dividend is forecast to yield 2.3% for the full year.
Hammerson
Real-estate investment trust Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) is our third to boost its half-time dividend, with a 7.8% rise to 8.3p per share. Hammerson, which invests mostly in retail property, reported a 9.9% rise in net rental income to £140.4m, with EPS up 8.8% to 11.1p. Net asset value was up too, by 1.7% to 551p — with the shares priced at only 513p.
The dividends have been rising steadily over the past few years, with forecasts suggesting two more years of rises and a yield of around 3.7%.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
