RE:RE:RE:IMO The Top Three Priorities Should Be:How many dividend fund managers have purchased BTE shares for their portfolios....? I don't know, but I bet it's close to zero. A company like BTE that discontinued its dividend, then, years later, decide to offer a tiny taste of one isn't going to draw much attention from yield-seeking fund managers, investors, etc. I think Eric Sprott, who owns a lot of BTE shares in his fund and thus likely holds sway, wanted BTE to "return money to shareholders", so perhaps he's the one who put pressure on BTE's management to offer one.
Further, companies like MEG and ATH seem to be generating good share price appreciation without offering any dividend. Meanwhile, CNQ, which I consider the best O&G E&P company in the world, is doing it all - robust earnings, share price moving onward and upward, and paying a dividend they can safely afford that is very generous because management is excellent - low cost operations, economies of scale, some of the best assets in North America, fantastic execution, etc.