⚠ Paying $6.84 on $6.63Moderate threat

Chevron (CVX) — threat to the moat

Chevron paid out more in dividends than it earned in 2025, and Hess added 301 million shares that now collect the same dividend.

In 2025 Chevron paid a dividend of $6.84 a share out of diluted earnings of $6.631. Dividends paid in cash were $12,751 million2, more than the year's net income of $12,299 million3.

2025 per share ($)6.63Diluted earnings6.84DividendsChevron Form 10-K FY2025
The dividend was 103% of earnings.

That is sustainable for a year, because depreciation is a non-cash charge and operating cash flow was $33,939 million4. It is not a comfortable position for a company whose largest recent acquisition added 301.25 million new shares5 that each also collect $1.78 a quarter.

The Hess shares enlarge the dividend bill permanently. Dividends paid rose from $11,801 million in 2024 to $12,751 million in 20256, and a full year of the new shares arrives in 2026.

The payout ratio is high even on trailing earnings. Stockanalysis puts it at 68.38 percent7, and that is on twelve months that include a war-priced quarter.

Dividends paid as a share of free cash flow is the test. Free cash flow was $16.6 billion in 20258; if dividends take more than three quarters of it in a year of ordinary oil prices, the next raise will be paid for with debt or with fewer buybacks.

References
  1. ReportedIn 2025 Chevron paid a dividend of $6.84 a share out of diluted earnings of $6.63.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - liquidity and capital resources: debt, ratings, capital spending, dividends and share repurchases. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedDividends paid in cash were $12,751 million, more than the year's net income of $12,299 million.
    SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts for Chevron (CIK 93410) - operating cash flow, share repurchases and dividends paid, 2015-2025. — 2015-2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedDividends paid in cash were $12,751 million, more than the year's net income of $12,299 million.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 7 MD&A: earnings by segment, return on capital employed and financial ratios. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThat is sustainable for a year, because depreciation is a non-cash charge and operating cash flow was $33,939 million.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - liquidity and capital resources: debt, ratings, capital spending, dividends and share repurchases. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedIt is not a comfortable position for a company whose largest recent acquisition added 301.25 million new shares that each also collect $1.78 a quarter.
    Chevron Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Note 29 and property tables: the Hess acquisition and property, plant and equipment. — FY2025 · publ. 24 February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedDividends paid rose from $11,801 million in 2024 to $12,751 million in 2025, and a full year of the new shares arrives in 2026.
    SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts for Chevron (CIK 93410) - operating cash flow, share repurchases and dividends paid, 2015-2025. — 2015-2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedStockanalysis puts it at 68.38 percent, and that is on twelve months that include a war-priced quarter.
    Chevron (CVX) statistics - $205.65 at the close on 24 September 2026, market cap $403.40 billion, trailing P/E 19.75, forward P/E 12.77, dividend yield 3.46%, 39 years of dividend growth. — September 2026 · publ. 24 September 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedFree cash flow was $16.6 billion in 2025; if dividends take more than three quarters of it in a year of ordinary oil prices, the next raise will be paid for with debt or with fewer buybacks.
    Chevron fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — FY2025 · publ. 30 January 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 25, 2026