Published on 2 Sep 2021 on Simply Wall St. via Yahoo Finance

One Day Left To Buy Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) Before The Ex-Dividend Date

Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) is about to go ex-dividend in just day or two. The ex-dividend date is usually set to be one business day before the record date which is the cut-off date on which you must be present on the company's books as a shareholder in order to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is important because any transaction on a stock needs to have been settled before the record date in order to be eligible for a dividend. Therefore, if you purchase Wesfarmers' shares on or after the 1st of September, you won't be eligible to receive the dividend, when it is paid on the 7th of October.

The company's next dividend payment will be AU$0.90 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed AU$1.80 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Wesfarmers has a trailing yield of 2.9% on the current share price of A$62.2. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

See our latest analysis for Wesfarmers