Oil & gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Company (NYSE: APC) announced late Tuesday afternoon that it is cutting its dividend from $0.27 per quarter to $0.05. The dividend is payable on March 23rd to shareholders of record on March 9th.
The company’s dividend yield prior to the announcement was 2.65%. Shares, which had been trading down about 3.7% before the announcement dropped another half point or so immediately after Anadarko released its news.
Company chairman and CEO Al Walker said:
We believe this adjustment to our dividend is the appropriate action to take in the current environment. On an annualized basis, this action provides approximately $450 million of additional cash available to enhance our operations and financial flexibility. Our Board will continue to evaluate the appropriate dividend on a quarterly basis.
Managing cash flow is the new priority in the oil patch. Cuts to capital spending have been sharp and will have to be even deeper if companies are going to bring spending in line with cash flow.
The stock traded down about 5.4% at $37.83 shortly after the announcment in a 52-week range of $28.16 to $95.94.
Take This Retirement Quiz To Get Matched With An Advisor Now (Sponsored)
Are you ready for retirement? Planning for retirement can be overwhelming, that’s why it could be a good idea to speak to a fiduciary financial advisor about your goals today.
Start by taking this retirement quiz right here from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes. Smart Asset is now matching over 50,000 people a month.
Click here now to get started.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.