ITC Ltd. is set to announce its final dividend alongside its March-quarter results on Wednesday, with analysts expecting the cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate to take its total FY26 payout to Rs 14.52 per share.
Bloomberg-tracked estimates show projections ranging from Rs 12 per share to Rs 16 per share for the financial year ended March 2026. The company has already paid an interim dividend of Rs 6.5 per share during the year.
ITC's dividend announcement is closely tracked by retail investors because the stock has historically been viewed as one of the market's key dividend plays. That has put focus on whether the company can meet analyst payout estimates this year after missing projections in the previous two financial years.
The dividend announcement will be closely watched after ITC missed Bloomberg dividend estimates in the last two financial years, extending a broader trend seen in six of the previous eight years.
Based on Bloomberg estimates, ITC's total FY26 dividend payout could imply a dividend yield of around 4.7% at current market prices.
Miss Pattern
ITC paid a total dividend of Rs 14.35 per share in FY25, marginally below Bloomberg estimates of Rs 14.53 per share. In FY24, the company paid Rs 13.75 per share against estimates of Rs 14.81 per share.
The gap was wider in FY21, when ITC paid Rs 5.75 per share compared with analyst expectations of Rs 9.7 per share.
The company, however, exceeded estimates in some earlier years. ITC paid Rs 15.5 per share in FY23 against expectations of Rs 12.9 per share, while FY22 payout stood at Rs 11.5 per share compared with estimates of Rs 10.88 per share.
In FY20, ITC paid Rs 10.15 per share, higher than analyst estimates of Rs 9.01 per share. The company also beat estimates in FY19, when it declared Rs 5.75 per share against expectations of Rs 6.06 per share.
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