Why is the Medibank share price slipping on Wednesday?

Shares in Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) are on the back foot today.

This comes despite the private health insurer not releasing any announcements to the ASX.

At the time of writing, Medibank shares are swapping hands at $3.57, down 1.65%.

Let’s take a look at what’s impacting the company’s shares on Wednesday.

Medibank shares final dividend

Investors are offloading Medibank shares after locking in the company’s upcoming final dividend.

Today is the ex-dividend date so those who had Medibank shares in their portfolio before market open will be eligible for the latest dividend.

This means that if you own Medibank shares, you’ll collect a dividend payment of 7.3 cents per share on 29 September.

The dividend is also fully franked.

At this point in time, there is no dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) that is being offered.

Medibank’s capital management objective is to maintain a strong financial risk profile and capacity to meet financial commitments.

The full-year dividend represents an 84.8% payout ratio of underlying net profit after tax (NPAT), normalising for investment market returns. This is at the top end of the group’s dividend target payout ratio range of between 75% and 85% of underlying NPAT.

Medibank share price recap

The Medibank share price has delivered an 8% return to shareholders in 2022.

When compared against the S&P/ASX 200 Financials (ASX: XFJ), the index is down 6% over the same period.

Medibank shares reached an all-time high of $3.79 on 30 August before retracing over the last few days. It appears profit takers took the opportunity to swoop in and lock in their gains.

Based on today’s price, Medibank commands a market capitalisation of approximately $10 billion and has a dividend yield of 3.58%.

The post Why is the Medibank share price slipping on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Ready for a storm: 3 ASX 200 shares with ironclad balance sheets
• Hoping to bag the latest Medibank dividend? Read this
• These 9 ASX 200 shares are going ex-dividend tomorrow
• Can the Medibank share price deliver healthy growth and dividends?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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