Wightlady4 Jul 2012 00:12
If you're trading it,there's no absolute guarantee on an ex div drop especially as its only the interim but depends what your intention is. Personally I wouldnt trade these as they are amongst a handful of footsie 100,s that are both high yielding and still cheap to buy and any advantage over a penny or two here and there will be diluted by dealing costs and the very real fear that a reload sub-110 might be a long time coming. The div drop caused by selling without the entitlement to the div normally gets 'forgotten' about in a few weeks but if you're looking at longterm,consider electing for drip/scrip shares instead of the cash option as that way you more often than not gain a small advantage as the drip is 5 days 'around' the ex div day. Quarterly div payers like gsk,hsba,bp,blnd to name a few don't suffer the div drop risk so much, others I hold like azn,ouch! Depends on your strategy,long to medium term for income it evens itself, short term I'm sure there are short term gains around if you get it right but nothing in share price terms is set in stone,in my opinion and experience, GL.