Why did the Woolworths Limited Share Price Fall Today? 18th March 2015

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What Happened to the Share Price?

Woolworths Limited’s [ASX:WOW] main business is its Woolworths supermarket chain. But the company also has some chain retail interests, including the Big W discount stores, Masters Home Improvement, and the Woolworth/Caltex petrol alliances. The company also run liquor chain stores BWS, Dan Murphy’s and Cellarmasters. Topping it all off are some hotel and leisure interests.

The Woolworths share price closed down 2.28% on Wednesday.

Why Did This Happen to Woolworth Shares?

Woolworths went ex-dividend today. The company will pay a 67 cent per share interim dividend.

The stock dropped from $29.38, to a closing price of $28.67.

What Now for Woolies?

When most companies trade ex-dividend you can expect the share price to fall. However generally the stock price recoveries quickly.

Woolworths remains a decent, defensive stock. Expect the price to climb to $30 over the next couple of days as some investors will have been waiting to pick the stock up when it looks cheap.

It’s unlikely Woolies shares will sink lower for now.

Shae Smith+
Editor, Money Weekend

Join Money Morning on Google+

Tags: ASX:WOW

Shae Russell

Since starting out in the financial markets over a decade ago, Shae has extensive experience across various aspects of the industry. Shae cut her teeth in the derivatives industry, teaching clients basic trading techniques with technical analysis.

Joining Fat Tail Investment Research eight years ago, Shae has worked across a number of publications, such as Australian Small-Cap Investigator, Gold Stock Trader and Microcap Trader. She’s spent the past two years however, honing her macro analysis skills alongside Jim Rickards, showing Australians how to invest and profit form global macro trends.

Drawing on her extensive experience, Shae is a contributor to Money Morning, and lead editor of sister-publication Markets & Money, where she looks at broad macro trends developing around the world, combining them with her distaste for central banks and irrational love of all things bullion.

Money Morning Australia