Rushing into any investment is never recommended. Even so, I always keep an eye on which passive income stocks are soon to go ex-dividend.
After all, owning the shares before this date entitles the holder to a portion of any profit that management decides to dish out. And the sight of cash hitting an account is one of life’s little pleasures.
With this in mind, here are three FTSE 100 giants that those in the midst of building an income-focused portfolio might wish to consider while there’s still time.
BT Group
Communications giant BT Group (LSE: BT.A) goes ex-dividend on 6 August. Investors will be entitled to receive 5.78p per share for their loyalty.
This follows hot on the heels of its 23 July trading update. Despite revealing flat year-on-year Q1 revenue of £4.3bn and a 4% decline in reported pre-tax profit, the firm said it was on track to achieve its targets for cash flow.
Perhaps most importantly for income seekers was BT saying that it is targeting “low to mid-single digit growth” for dividends. That doesn’t exactly quicken the pulse. But it’s also to be expected given that the firm carries a sizeable amount of debt on its balance sheet. The stock already offers a forecast dividend yield of 4.4% too. That’s higher than the FTSE 100 as a whole.
While regulatory and competitive threats must be borne in mind, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 10 arguably reflects this.
Imperial Brands
Also going ex-dividend in August is perennial income favourite Imperial Brands (LSE: IMB). Analysts have the company poised to return almost 42p per share to those owning the stock before 20 August.
For ethical reasons, I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But Imperial’s down to yield 6% in the current financial year. This makes it one of the biggest payers in the UK’s top tier.
Part of the reason that yield is so high is that the shares have fallen 10% in 2026 so far. April was particularly tough after the company reflected that conflict in the Middle East might begin to have an impact on trading.
Still, dividends are currently expected to be covered twice by profit. So in the absence of any unforeseen disasters, the likelihood of a cut in the near future seems pretty low. A P/E of eight is significantly below the long-term average in the UK market.
Investec
Rounding off our trio of soon-to-be ex-dividend stocks is recent FTSE 100 addition Investec (LSE: INVP). It’s down to return 21p per share to investors holding before 20 August. The wealth manager also has the highest yield at the time of writing — 6.6%.
Sure, that bumper distribution doesn’t come without risk. A significant economic downturn could see a big reduction in assets under management and fees received by the company.
However, this is another example where, for now, the total payout looks set to be comfortably covered by earnings. Analysts are anticipating a 11% hike in FY28 as well!
And the valuation? The forecast P/E here is just seven. That’s not only a bit of a bargain within its peer group, it also makes it the cheapest of the bunch here.
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Paul Summers has no position in any of the shares mentioned
