Exxon Mobil upped its quarterly dividend, the first increase for the energy giant since April 2019.
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Exxon Mobil and AbbVie were among the large U.S. companies that announced dividend increases this past week, while Ford Motor reinstated its quarterly payout.
Exxon Mobil (ticker: XOM) declared a quarterly dividend of 88 cents a share, up by a penny or about 1%. It marked the first quarterly dividend increase for the energy giant since April 2019 when it went from 82 to 87 cents a share.
The company said in a release that it has increased its annual dividend payment for 39 straight years. That’s accurate because even though the company didn’t boost its quarterly dividend in 2020, it still paid out more to shareholders that year than it did in 2019—$3.48 a share versus $3.43.
The latest quarterly dividend, which is payable on Dec. 10 to shareholders of record of the common stock at the close of business on Nov. 12, will allow the company to remain in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index. Its members have paid out a higher dividend for at least 25 straight years.
As of the close on Oct. 28, Exxon Mobil’s stock had returned about 63%, dividends included, compared with about 24% for the S&P 500. The stock was recently yielding 5.4%.
Pharmaceutical company AbbVie’s (ABBV) board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.41 a share from $1.30 for an increase of 8.5%. The dividend is payable on Feb. 15 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 14.
The stock, which yields 4.5%, has returned about 7% this year.
In other news, Ford Motor (F) said its board had voted to reinstate its quarterly dividend. It will be 10 cents a share. It was previously 15 cents a share but the company suspended the payout in March of 2020 early in the pandemic.
The reinstated quarterly dividend on common and class B stock is payable on Dec. 1 to shareholders of record as the close of business on Nov. 19.
The stock has returned about 92% this year.
Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) declared a quarterly dividend of 38.5 cents a share, up from 35 cents, for a 10% boost. The stock, which has returned about 50% year to date, yields 1.9%.
Rockwell Automation (ROK) said it would raise its quarterly disbursement by nearly 5%, to $1.12 a share from $1.07. The stock, which yields 1.4%, has returned about 29% this year.
DTE Energy (DTE), a utility based in Detroit, declared a quarterly disbursement of 88.5 cents a share, an increase of about 7% from 82.5 cents.
The stock, which yields 3.1%, has returned about 13% in 2021.
Corrections & Amplifications
Rockwell Automation said it would raise its quarterly dividend to $1.12 a share from $1.07. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it would raise its quarterly dividend to $112 a share from $107.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]
