Updating Chevron Corp.

Article Excerpt

CHEVRON CORP. $117 (New York symbol CVX, CyclicalGrowth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $222.3 billion; Dividend yield: 3.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the U.S. by revenue, after ExxonMobil. For 2017, the company expects to spend $19.8 billion on exploration and development. That’s down about 15% from its expected capital spending for 2016. To put that amount in context, Chevron’s cash flow totalled $9.0 billion, or $4.80 a share, in the nine months ended September 30, 2016. Next year’s spending includes $2 billion to complete two large offshore natural gas projects in Australia: Gorgon (47.3% owned) and Wheatstone (80.2% owned). Chevron also plans to spend $2.5 billion on its shale oil projects in the Permian Basin areas of Texas and New Mexico. Lower capital spending, combined with higher oil and gas prices, should give Chevron plenty of cash for further dividend increases. The company raised its dividend by 0.9% with…