FTSE 100 dividend stocks will pay out almost £16bn in September

A stunning £15.7 billion of dividend payments are to make September the most lucrative month of the year to date for blue-chip investors.

The scale of the distributions by 31 FTSE 100 companies, including AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), Barclays (LSE:BARC) and Shell (LSE:SHEL), is a timely reminder of the London market’s income power.

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For retail investors, the payments will mitigate the cost-of-living crisis or mean an opportunity to enhance their portfolio by reinvesting the proceeds in new or existing stocks.

The biggest overall payment will come from commodities giant Glencore (LSE:GLEN), which is due to hand over £2.9 billion to shareholders on 22 September. The returns include a top-up special dividend of $0.08 a share, alongside the base $0.22 announced in February’s results.

On the same day, oil giant BP (LSE:BP.) is due to pay out around £991 million after announcing that shareholders will get a much-improved second quarter dividend of 7.27 cents a share (5.75p).

That’s a 10% increase on the 6.61 cents (5.31p) distributed on 23 June, an upgrade that bettered the 5% rise predicted before the 1 August results. The exact sum for UK investors will be determined using the dollar to sterling conversion rate on 5 September.

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Rival Shell (LSE:SHEL) will make its second-quarter dividend payment on 18 September, with £1.7 billion heading to shareholders based on the award of $0.331 (0.26p).

This is a 15% increase after new chief executive Wael Sawan announced plans to target distributions worth 30-40% of cash flow from operations through the cycle, up from 20-30%.

Shell’s quarterly dividend is still lower than the $0.47 paid before the pandemic resulted in a 66% reduction to $0.16 as Shell cut the award for the first time since the Second World War. The latest dividend will be calculated in sterling terms based on 4 September exchange rates.

Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO) is due to make its dividend distribution on 21 September, with the 177 US cents a share (137.67p) down 34% on last year’s award and based on 50% of earnings.

Two years ago, shareholders got a bumper interim dividend of 376 US cents after the rebound of commodity prices led to 2021’s overall record-breaking payout worth $16.8 billion.

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Rio shares yield 8.4%, which is among the highest of the month’s FTSE 100 dividend payers. Top income stock Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) stands at 8.8% based on plans to pay 5.71p a share worth £341 million on 26 September.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, widely held Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) is distributing £586 million through 0.92p a share on 12 September before NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) hands £490 million or 5.5p a share to HM Treasury and other shareholders on 15 September. Barclays pays 2.70p a share or £416 million on the same day.

HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA), which recently returned to the ranks of quarterly dividend payers, has set aside £1.55 billion in one of the month’s largest distributions in the FTSE 100. The award on 21 September is a repeat of the 10 cents (7.9p) a share declared three months earlier.

Other popular payments are likely to include the 71.30p a share from AstraZeneca worth £1.1 billion on 11 September and the 5.39p a share full-year dividend due to BT Group (LSE:BT.A) shareholders on 13 September, a move worth £535 million.

Source: interactive investor, SharePad. *Dividend converted to sterling from euros or dollars at exchange rates on 29 August 2023.