It’s not that shares of ConocoPhillips (COP) had such a stellar 2016–the gain for the year was just 7.4%. But the company, faced with low oil prices, cut the dividend on its stock by 66% in 2016 in order to conserve cash. That has pushed the dividend yield down to 2.01% as of January 11.
That’s not enough to keep ConocoPhillips in my Dividend portfolio. In this portfolio I look for yields of 4% or more. (With 5% as the ideal–but hey this isn’t a perfect market.)
Despite the cut in the dividend rate, the dividend payout ratio remains high and is likely to remain elevated throughout 2017. Which lowers the chance that the company will raise its dividend in 2017.
For the 2016 performance of my Dividend portfolio and the challenges facing dividend investors in 2017, see my post from January 11. The record date for ConocoPhillips’ last dividend was October 17, 2016. If 2017 follows form, the record date for the next dividend will be sometime around February 16, 2017.
