Chevron's Stock Gains After Profit Beat, Dividend Hike

Shares of Chevron Corp. climbed 1.2% in premarket trade Friday, after the oil giant beat third-quarter profit expectations and lifted its dividend. Earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell to $1.28 billion, or 68 cents a share, from $2.04 billion, or $1.09 a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 37 cents. Revenue declined to $29.16 billion from $32.77 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $29.1 billion. Global net oil-equivalent production was 2.51 million barrels per day, down from 2.54 million a year ago, and below the FactSet consensus of 2.55 million. Separately, the oil giant raised its quarterly dividend to $1.08 a share from $1.07 a share. The new dividend will be payable in December. The stock has climbed 11% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF has run up 15% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.4%.