By Connor Hart

Phillips 66 raised its dividend by 5 cents, to $1.20 a share.

The new payout, equal to $4.80 a year, represents an annual yield of about 4.9% based on Monday's closing price of $97.01.

The Houston-based oil refiner said the higher dividend will be paid June 2 to shareholders of record as of May 19.

Phillips' dividend increase came after the company earlier on Monday urged its shareholders to vote against Elliott Investment's director nominees.

Activist investor Elliott, with a stake of $2.5 billion in Phillips, earlier this month nominated four directors, Brian Coffman, Sigmund Cornelius, Michael Heim and Stacy Nieuwoudt, to serve on the oil refiner's board as part of its ongoing proxy fight.

Elliott's "Streamline 66" plan calls for a simplification of Phillips's portfolio and a thorough review of its refinery operations that the firm said would help boost its stock price to more than $200 a share.

Phillips said in a letter to shareholders that Coffman, a ConocoPhillips alum, has never served on a public company's board. Cornelius, who previously served as ConocoPhillips' finance chief, has served on the boards of three companies that have filed for bankruptcy, and has a track record of errors that led to company investigations, Phillips said.

The company additionally noted that when Heim was a director of Evolve Transition Infrastructure, its total shareholder return declined 93%. Nieuwoudt has no experience as an operator in the energy industry and resigned as director of Independence Contract Drilling months before it filed for bankruptcy, Phillips said.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2025 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT)

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