Chevron eyes higher shale production

Article Excerpt

CHEVRON CORP. $123 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $233.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.1; Dividend yield: 3.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) plans to increase production at its Permian shale oil properties in west Texas by two-thirds, to 250,000 barrels a day, by 2020. That’s equal to 9.7% of its overall production in the first quarter of 2014. Moreover, the company does not have to pay royalties to landholders on over half of its Permian holdings, which will make these properties more profitable. In addition, Chevron raised its dividend by 7.0%. The new annual rate of $4.28 a share yields 3.5%. Chevron is a buy. buy…