British oil giant Shell (SHEL) is increasing its quarterly dividend payment to shareholders by 4% after reporting a strong profit for 2023.
Specifically, Shell said that it will raise its dividend by 4% for the fourth quarter of this year, lifting the payment to $0.645 U.S. per share from $0.62 U.S. previously.
The increase will bring the dividend yield on Shell’s stock closer to 4%.
Additionally, the company announced a new $3.5 billion U.S. share buyback program to be carried out over the next three months.
The company has completed another $3.5 billion U.S. share buyback announced last November.
The rewards to stockholders were announced along with Shell’s latest financial results that showed the energy company posted earnings of $28.25 billion U.S. for all of 2023, a 29% decline from its record annual profit of $39.9 billion U.S. in 2022.
However, the 2023 result was better than the $27.50 billion U.S. in net profit that was expected among analysts who cover the oil company.
For the fourth and final quarter of last year, Shell posted stronger-than-anticipated earnings of $7.31 billion U.S.
The company said the results reflect strong liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading and optimized margins, which offset weaker oil production.
The price of both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell around 10% in 2023 during a volatile year, with prices fluctuating amid geopolitical conflicts and demand concerns.
Shell’s stock has increased 8% in the last year and currently trades at $62.91 U.S. per share.
