A busy day is set to be underway on the stock market, with several well-known S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) companies trading ex-dividend today.

The list includes BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), along with another four other ASX 200 shares.

Combined, the dividends are worth around 31 points on the ASX 200, according to IG.

That could make some of the share price moves look worse than they really are on Thursday.

Let’s take a closer look.

BHP, Woodside and Coles lead the way

BHP is easily the largest company on today’s list.

The mining giant closed Wednesday at $64.65 and is trading ex-dividend for $1.39 per share, fully franked.

That means anyone buying BHP shares from today will not receive the payment, which is due to eligible shareholders on 23 September.

Woodside is another heavyweight going ex-dividend.

Its shares finished yesterday at $33.08 and are now trading without a 79.51-cent fully franked dividend attached. Woodside is due to pay shareholders on 25 September.

Coles closed Wednesday at $23.89 and has a 37-cent fully franked dividend coming off its share price today. The supermarket giant will make the payment on 22 September.

However, with all three carrying such huge index weightings, going ex-dividend is likely to put some pressure on the ASX 200 today.

4 more ASX 200 shares to watch

There are also several other payouts investors should be aware of.

Amcor Plc (ASX: AMC) closed at $64.15 and is trading ex-dividend for 92 cents per share. Unlike the other larger payouts today, the Amcor dividend is unfranked.

Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC) finished Wednesday at $52.38 and is going ex-dividend for 48.5 cents per share, fully franked.

Meanwhile, NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF) closed at $6.97 and is trading without its 21-cent fully franked dividend.

Rounding out the group is Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG), which closed at $2.71. Its latest dividend is 2 cents per share, also fully franked.

Sigma shareholders are due to receive their payment on 22 September, Ramsay on 24 September and NIB on 7 October.

What investors should keep in mind

There is a fair bit going on with the index today, so the headline move may not tell the full story.

BHP, Woodside and Coles are all large enough to have an impact, and having all 3 go ex-dividend on the same day adds some extra weight.

So, if the ASX 200 looks a bit weak, the dividend effect is worth factoring in.

The post Own BHP, Woodside or Coles shares? Here’s what investors should know appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 positions in and has recommended Amcor Plc and NIB Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL) shares have slipped further into the red in Thursday morning trade.

At the time of writing, the shares are down around another 1%, and they’re trading close to a decade low, at $18.57 each.

Today’s slide means the shares have now crashed 21% over the past two weeks, and they’re now 17% lower for the year to date.

What has happened to Sonic Healthcare shares?

After a strong sell-off earlier this year, ASX healthcare shares came back into favour recently. 

Ahead of the share price crash two weeks ago, Sonic Healthcare shares had rebounded around 28% from a 10-year low in Mid-May. And its shares didn’t move in isolation, either. Australian healthcare stocks have staged a major recovery over the past month, with the healthcare index rising around 18% over the past month.

But amid the sector recovery, Sonic Healthcare reported its results on the 20th of August, and it sent investors into a tailspin.

For FY26, the company reported a 13% increase in revenue and a 11% increase in underlying EBITDA to $1.933 billion. It also reported a 17% increase in underlying NPAT and strong organic revenue growth of 5%.

The result looks good on face value and was broadly in line with expectations, but there were concerns about the strength of Sonic Healthcare’s outlook and about margin pressure overseas.

At the time of its results announcement, the company said it expects continued organic growth across its major markets. This is expected to be underpinned by demand for personalised and preventative healthcare. 

The company also provided EBITDA guidance in the range of $1.95 billion to $2.03 billion (in constant currency). This excludes costs from its IT transformation program. 

It also flagged some earnings headwinds from regulatory changes in Switzerland and a slower ramp-up of profit from its large UK NHS contract.

Ahead of the result, analysts had pinpointed margin recovery as the key part of the investment case. So it looks like Sonic Healthcare’s outlook spooked investors, and many quickly sold up their shares and fled the stock.

So, what do the experts think?

Are the ASX healthcare shares a buy, sell, or hold now?

According to TradingView data, the majority of analysts are neutral about the outlook for Sonic Healthcare shares going forward.

Out of 18 analysts, 10 now have a hold rating. The remaining eight ratings are split between buy/strong buy and sell/strong sell.

The average $22.11 target price, however, does imply a potential 19% upside after the latest sell-off. Even the minimum $19.60 target price suggests the shares could climb another 5%, at the time of writing.

Bell Potter confirmed its buy rating on Sonic Healthcare shares shortly following the results announcement, but shaved its target price to $27.50. The broker said the result was in guidance. But added that the rebounding share price is mostly the result of a broad sector rebound.

The post Sonic Healthcare shares crash 21%: What on earth is going on? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies 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 recommended Sonic Healthcare. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares are edging lower today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock closed yesterday trading for $8.31. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for $8.29 apiece, down 0.2%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is just about flat at this same time, while the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is down 1.2%.

Now, here’s what’s happening with Santos’ growth outlook.

Santos shares in focus amid major project progress

In news that could support Santos shares over the longer-term, the company announced a “significant milestone” at its Pikka oil project, located on Alaska’s North Slope.

Pikka is one of Santos’ two major growth projects that could help the ASX 200 oil and gas stock increase its production by up to 30% in the second half of the year (H2 2026) compared to H1.

And Pikka is fast progressing to full production, with Santos reporting the successful commencement of seawater injection at the Nanushuk Drillsite-B (NDB) within the project.

Continuous production at Pikka commenced in June.

The project is now delivering around 40,000 barrels of oil per day (gross). And Santos shares could catch further tailwinds, with management reporting the company plans to bring additional wells online over the coming weeks now that the water injection is also online.

The company said that water export from the seawater treatment plant began on 18 August via a 75-kilometre seawater pipeline that connects the Beaufort Sea to the Pikka project site.

With injection into the reservoir having started on 26 August, Santos said the water injection milestone testing has since been successfully completed. The current water injection was reported to be around 40,000 barrels per day.

Why is Santos injecting seawater?

The company explained:

Seawater injection provides pressure support to the reservoir, a key enabler of the production ramp-up targeting plateau production of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day (gross) at the end of the third quarter of 2026.

What did management say?

Commenting on the progress at Pikka that could provide long-term support for Santos shares, managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said:

Seawater injection is a critical step in unlocking Pikka’s production capacity. With pressure support now established and wells coming online progressively, we continue to target plateau production rates at the end of the third quarter of 2026.

Pikka is a world-class asset and seawater injection, together with continued efficient drilling and operations, keeps us firmly on track to deliver its full potential.

Santos share price snapshot

With today’s intraday moves factored in, shares in the ASX 200 energy stock are up 34.8% in 2026, well ahead of the 2.9% year to date gains posted by the benchmark index.

The post Buying Santos shares? Here’s why the company is celebrating this production milestone appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.