Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) Increases Dividend to $1.78 Per Share

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of 1.78 per share by the oil and gas company on Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a 4.1% increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.71.

Chevron has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 38 consecutive years. Chevron has a dividend payout ratio of 71.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Chevron to earn $12.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.3%.

Chevron Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE:CVX traded up $5.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $176.75. 22,932,963 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,233,197. Chevron has a fifty-two week low of $132.04 and a fifty-two week high of $177.30. The company has a market capitalization of $355.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.24.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $45.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.18 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 6.57%.The firm’s revenue was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Chevron will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In related news, insider Alana K. Knowles sold 7,956 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $1,313,137.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,215.35. The trade was a 86.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John B. Hess sold 275,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.75, for a total value of $41,456,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,128,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,052,783.75. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 645,924 shares of company stock valued at $102,079,188. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 17.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,790,028 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,540,753,000 after purchasing an additional 27,961,463 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Chevron during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,721,477,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Chevron by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 152,605,988 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,698,184,000 after buying an additional 12,789,399 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Chevron during the third quarter worth about $988,083,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Chevron by 27.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 19,627,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,047,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,279,918 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron’s core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.