Exxon Mobil's Dividend Yield Hits 10%: What Investors Need To Know

Exxon Mobil's dividend yield has continued to rise in a year that the stock has fallen by more than 50%.

What Happened: Exxon Mobil Corporation's XOM dividend yield is sitting above 10% as of Thursday.

The company paid out a dividend of 87 cents in September. Based on the ex-dividend date of Aug. 12, the annual dividend rate was 7.9%.

The dividend yield was 7.9% and 5.8% at the ex-dividend dates of the other dividends paid in 2020.

In 2019, all four ex-dividend dates were at yields of 5% or less. In 2018, all four dates were 4.1% or less.

Charts dating back to 1989 show that Exxon Mobil's dividend yield is at its highest-ever level.

What’s Next: Exxon Mobil has a history of raising its quarterly dividend payout.

The 87-cent quarterly payout has stayed the same for six straight quarters.

Since 2008, ExxonMobil has never had the same quarterly dividend payout for more than four straight quarters.

MKM Partners analyst John Gerdes has suggested ExxonMobil may need to raise $15 billion in debt to support its dividend over the next two years.

Options trading trends are also pointing to a potential dividend cut this year or the next.

XOM Price Action: Shares of ExxonMobil were down 0.2% at $34.32 at the close Thursday.