By Robb M. Stewart


Imperial Oil's dividend will jump 20% for the first quarter of the new year as the Canadian energy company continues to focus on returning cash to shareholders.

The Exxon Mobil-controlled oil and gas producer said it will pay 60 Canadian cents, the equivalent of 45 cents, a share, up from C$0.50 the quarter before.

The dividend, now equal to $2.40 a year, represents an annual yield of about 3.1% based on Thursday's closing price of C$76.61. The shares are up about 13% from a year ago.

The company returned C$2.75 billion to shareholders in the last quarter of 2023, including C$288 million in dividends, C$958 million in share buybacks through an accelerated normal course issuer bid and the completion of a C$1.5 billion substantial issuer bid program in December.

Imperial has paid dividends each year for more than a century and increased its annual payout for 29 consecutive years.


Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-02-24 0850ET