Dividend Stock: Core Labs Boosts Dividend By 20%
Core Laboratories To Raise Its Dividend
About: (Core Laboratories NV (NYSE: CLB), Dividend Genius, dividend stock, dividend stocks, stock dividend, stock dividends, MLPs, Master Limited Partnership)
Core Laboratories NV (NYSE: CLB), the Dutch oilfield services provider, said it will raise its quarterly dividend by 20% to 12 cents a share from 10 cents. The new dividend will be payable on February 25 to shareholders of record on January 25.
In a capital intensive industry, Core Labs devotes just 3%-4% of annual revenue to capital expenditures compared to 10%-15% for rivals, according to analysts. This allows the company to generate free cash flow at a pace that is superior to that of rivals and it appears the company is using some of that spare change to reward shareholders.
The oil services sector is highly correlated to price fluctuations in the price of crude oil, more so than integrated oil stocks and traditional exploration firms, and due to high offshore exploration costs, most oil services stocks don’t pay good dividends nor do they offer strong yields. The Core Labs dividend increase is certainly good news, but we still prefer master limited partnerships (MLPs) as ways of earning income in the energy patch.
