Noble Energy to Split Stock, Raise Dividend

By Eric Volkman – Apr 22, 2013 at 7:41PM

NASDAQ: NBL

Noble Energy

The company plans to effect a two-for-one split, boosting its payout by $0.03 in the process.

Investors in Noble Energy (NBL) will soon possess double the number of company shares, and they'll be slightly richer. The company announced that its board has approved a two-for-one split of its common stock, which will be effected in the form of a share dividend. The new stock will be distributed on May 28 to shareholders of record as of May 14.

Noble also announced a boost in its regular quarterly dividend. The firm plans to hand out $0.28 per share on May 20 to shareholders of record as of May 6. This amount represents a 12% increase over the company's previous distribution of $0.25, which was dispensed in February.

The new dividend annualizes to $1.12 per share. That yields a little more than 1% at Noble's current stock price of $108.61.

Fool contributor Eric Volkman has no position in Noble Energy, and neither does The Motley Fool. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.