South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) Shareholders should check their accounts today to see if they received the company’s latest dividend payout.

The mining company has distributed a fully franked interim dividend of 8.7 US cents (A$0.1194) per share to eligible shareholders.

As of Wednesday’s market close, South32’s stock price ended down 1.95% at $5.02.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) also fell yesterday with a loss of 0.5% to 7,490.1 points.

Let’s take a look at all the details regarding the company’s dividend.

How did South32 perform during the first half of FY22?

In the 2022 half-year report, South32 reported strong performance across all key metrics.

In summary, the group’s statutory profit after tax increased by $979 million to $1,032 million in the first half of FY22. The company benefited from portfolio changes completed during FY21, as well than a broad recovery in commodity prices.

Underlying profit jumped US$868 million to US$1,004 million on higher average realized commodity prices, particularly metallurgical coal. The latter allocated 526 million dollars over the period to the coffers of South32.

The group also realized a US$704 million increase in free cash flow from operations, excluding EAI, to US$840 million.

Overall, the company ended the first half with net cash of $975 million, compared to $406 million a year earlier.

The board declared a fully franked interim dividend of 8.7 US cents per share. That’s a 621% jump from the 1.4 US cents reported in the first half of FY21.

Management noted that the latest dividend equates to a payout ratio of 40% of cash earnings.

The company’s dividend policy is to distribute a minimum of 40% of its income in cash over a 6 month period.

It should be noted that a capital management program has been active since fiscal 2018. This effectively returns excess capital through a market buyback.

The board further expanded its capital management program from $110 million to $2.1 billion, leaving $302 million to be returned by September 2, 2022.

South32 Stock Price Overview

In addition to its impressive gains, South32’s stock price has jumped around 78% in the past 12 months. This is mainly due to its gains made in 2022, up 25%.

South32 has a price/earnings ratio (P/E) of 29.88 and a market capitalization of approximately $23.32 billion.