Shares of Vedanta and ITC will trade ex-dividend on Tuesday (May 30) with respect to the dividends announced by the companies earlier. The ITC stock brought cheer to investors on Monday, May 29, touching a fresh record high of Rs 451.80. The scrip rose nearly 2 percent intra-day to cross the Rs 450 mark for the first time. ITC has been among the top Nifty gainers so far in 2023, surging as much as 35 percent compared to just the 2 percent gain in the index.
Vedanta shares, meanwhile, closed marginally higher at Rs 300.55 apiece on Monday. The stock gained 7 percent in the past month, while it fell 5 percent on a year-to-date basis.
ITC's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 6.75 and a special dividend of Rs 2.75 per equity share. The dividend, if approved by shareholders at the AGM, will be paid between August 14-17 to eligible members. The Kolkata-based company has fixed May 30 as the record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders.
Together with the interim dividend of Rs 6 per share, the FMCG giant would pay a total dividend of Rs 15.50 for the financial year (FY) 2022-2023.
ITC has declared 27 dividends since July 3, 2001. In the past 12 months, ITC declared an equity dividend amounting to Rs 6 per share, which results in a dividend yield of 1.35 percent, according to data from Trendlyne.
Analysts at JM Financial have a target price of Rs 475 on the counter. The brokerage said recent government actions reflect a pretty supportive policy environment for the legal cigarettes industry. Motilal Oswal has a target price of Rs 485 on the ITC stock. Elara Securities has a target of Rs 473 on the stock.
Meanwhile, Vedanta, which is one of the highest dividend-paying stocks on the Street, had earlier announced an interim dividend of Rs 18.5 per share for FY24. The record date to determine the eligibility of equity shareholders has been fixed on May 30. The payout by the company towards the first interim dividend will be Rs 6,877 crore.
In the past 12 months, billionaire Anil Agarwal-led mining major has declared an equity dividend of Rs 70 per share. The Mumbai-headquartered firm had announced a total of five dividends for the FY23, taking the total payout for the year to over Rs 101.50 per share.
Companies usually trade ex-dividend on the day of the record date or a day before. When a company goes ex-dividend on a particular date, its stock does not carry the value of the next dividend payment.
