ExxonMobil Raises Quarterly Dividend 3.9% to $1.07

ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation raised its quarterly dividend 3.9% to $1.07 a share from $1.03. The shares trade ex-dividend on November 16, 2026, and the payment is due December 10, 2026.

Why the dividend changed

ExxonMobil did not attribute the increase to a single transaction or temporary windfall. The board approved it as a regular quarterly distribution, not as part of a stock split, merger, spinoff or special dividend. The company presented the decision alongside third-quarter results that showed stronger earnings and cash generation, consistent with its stated capital-allocation priority of maintaining a strong balance sheet while returning cash through a growing dividend and share repurchases. ExxonMobil’s third-quarter release and quarterly filing set out that framework.

Third-quarter earnings were $15.4 billion, compared with $7.5 billion a year earlier. Operating cash flow was $25.7 billion and free cash flow was $19.1 billion. Stronger crude prices, refining margins, reliable operations and advantaged investments supported the improvement. Middle East disruptions, depreciation and other expenses provided offsets. Energy Products benefited from higher margins and refinery optimization, while sequential Upstream earnings declined because of lower prices and the timing of Guyana production entitlements. The company detailed those drivers in its results.

Chief Executive Darren Woods also pointed to a higher-quality portfolio, operational optimization and $16.9 billion of structural cost savings since 2019 as contributors to stronger earnings power. The quarterly filing says internally generated funds are expected to cover most financial requirements. Together, those factors describe the operating and balance-sheet setting for the increase, though commodity prices remain an important influence on ExxonMobil’s cash generation. ExxonMobil’s filing discusses its funding and capital-allocation priorities.

Dividend track record

The recent payment record shows a step-up pattern rather than increases every quarter. ExxonMobil paid $0.99 for four consecutive quarters from November 14, 2024, through August 15, 2025. The rate then moved to $1.03 for the four payments from November 14, 2025, through August 17, 2026. The new $1.07 rate begins the next step in that sequence.

Annual payments rose from $3.48 in 2020 to $3.49 in 2021, $3.55 in 2022, $3.68 in 2023, $3.84 in 2024 and $4.00 in 2025. The annual increases accelerated from 0.3% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2024 before easing to 4.2% in 2025. The five-year record amounts to 2.6% annual growth, showing steady but moderate income expansion.

The current growth streak stands at 24 consecutive years, and the last annual cut occurred in 2001. ExxonMobil separately characterizes the latest action as its 44th consecutive year of increases in annual dividends per share, reflecting the company’s own longer-term measure. That record appears in the declaration release.

Is the dividend covered?

The dividend consumes 42% of earnings. That leaves more than half of reported profit available for capital spending, debt management, repurchases and other corporate uses before considering differences between accounting earnings and cash flow.

SmarterDividends rates the dividend A with a safety score of 95. The grade means very safe within the publication’s 80-100 scoring band. The earnings payout ratio, recent free-cash-flow generation and the company’s emphasis on balance-sheet strength support that assessment, while ExxonMobil’s exposure to oil, gas and refining cycles remains the principal business variable affecting coverage.

Yield and valuation

At a share price of $172.09, the annual dividend of $4.28 produces a 2.41% forward yield. That is below the Energy sector median forward yield of 4.08%, meaning ExxonMobil currently offers less dividend income for each dollar invested than the median sector company.

The yield comparison also reflects a 61.5% gain in the shares over the past year. SmarterDividends estimates fair value at $83.91 and assigns an overvalued verdict, equivalent to 55% downside from the current price. The valuation assessment is separate from the dividend safety grade: the A grade addresses the payment’s coverage, while the fair-value verdict addresses the price of the shares.

What to watch

The immediate dates are November 16, 2026, when the shares trade ex-dividend, and December 10, 2026, when the $1.07 payment is scheduled. After that, the next quarterly results will show how year-end commodity prices, refining margins, maintenance and project execution affected cash generation.

ExxonMobil plans 2026 cash capital expenditures of $27 billion to $29 billion. Its third-quarter filing also identifies strong-balance-sheet maintenance, advantaged projects and shareholder distributions as competing capital priorities. Management announced planned 2027 share repurchases of $20 billion, subject to reasonable market conditions. These spending commitments, along with progress in Guyana, the Permian Basin and LNG, are the main operating and capital-allocation items to monitor. ExxonMobil provided the spending range and capital priorities in its quarterly materials.