Yahoo Finance Noble Energy (NBL) Rewards Shareholders With 10% Dividend Hike
Noble Energy, Inc. NBL announced that its board of directors has approved a 10% increase in the quarterly dividend rate. The revised quarterly dividend will be 11 cents, payable May 21, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 7.
The annualized dividend rate of the company comes to 44 cents per share while the dividend yield over the past year is 1.18%, better than the Zacks sub-industry’s yield of 0.64%. Over the last two years, the company has maintained a dividend of 40 cents per share, raising 10% for the current year.
Can Noble Energy Sustain its Dividend Trend?
Noble Energy’s transformative portfolio repositioning initiatives, along with increased capital efficiency and enhanced well productivity have positioned the company well to deliver attractive multi-year volume growth and cash flow growth.
For 2018, capital expenditures are expected to be between $2.7 billion and $2.9 billion, with nearly 70% allocated to the U.S. onshore program and more than 25% to the Eastern Mediterranean. Full-year sales volumes, at the midpoint of the company's expected range, are approximately 12% higher than that of 2017.
Capital expenditures are estimated to be approximately $2.8 billion annually through 2020. More than 80% of total capital is planned for U.S. onshore assets and in excess of 15% will be allocated to the Eastern Mediterranean, primarily for the Leviathan project. Notably, first production from Leviathan is expected late next year, which will definitely boost earnings.
Price Movement
In a month, Noble Energy’s shares have gained 11.1%, outperforming the Zacks Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production industry’s rally of 5%.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Noble Energy carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A few better-ranked stocks in the same industry are Baytex Energy Corp BTE, Comstock Resources, Inc CRK and Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure SOI.
Baytex Energy delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 77.34% in the past four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged in the last 30 days. Baytex Energy sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Comstock Resources delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 33.25% in the past four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate moved up 27.4% in the last 30 days. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 161.09% in the past four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged in the last 30 days. The stock flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.
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Baytex Energy Corp (BTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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