Saudi Aramco’s annual dividend of $75 billion is already the world’s biggest, but the oil producer may have to raise it to follow peers, according to Bank of America.
“A dividend increase is needed to stay competitive,” BofA analysts led by Karen Kostanian said in a research note, ahead of the company’s second-quarter results on Sunday. “Especially given that higher oil prices and OPEC+-driven production increases should support a significant free cash flow increase over the next couple of years.”
The analysts said one option is for Aramco to keep the payout unchanged for the government, which owns 98% of the stock, but raise it for minority shareholders.
Aramco declined to comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment