Phillips 66, Target, and Wells Fargo Just Paid Shareholders. Here’s What They Got.
On September 1, shareholders of three companies spanning oil refining, retail, and banking all received dividend checks on the same day, but two of those checks arrived at a rate investors had never seen before.
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Three well-known dividend payers, operating in three unrelated businesses, all sent checks to their shareholders on September 1, 2026. For a holder of one share of each, the mailbox math was simple: $1.27 from Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX | PSX Price Prediction), $1.16 from Target (NYSE:TGT), and $0.50 from Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).
Two of these three checks were the first at a newly raised per-share rate. Before getting into which is which, a quick refresher on the three dates that matter for every dividend payment.
- The declaration date is when the board formally approves the payment.
- The ex-dividend date is the cutoff: own the stock before that date and you get the check, buy on or after and you don’t.
- The payment date is when the money actually shows up in the brokerage account.
All three companies featured here share the same payment date. The declaration and ex-dividend dates tell the real story.
Phillips 66: Third Check at the Current Quarterly Rate
As mentioned, shareholders collected $1.27 per share on September 1. The payment was declared on July 9, 2026, and the stock went ex-dividend on August 18, 2026. The quarterly rate was set earlier in calendar year 2026, with the first payment at that rate landing on March 4, 2026, and a second on June 1, 2026. It is, however, a higher check than the comparable September payment a year earlier, when the company paid $1.20 per share on September 2, 2025. The trailing 12-month total is $5.01 per share, with an annualized forward figure of $5.08.
The backdrop is a strong operational quarter. Phillips 66 reported Q2 2026 adjusted EPS of $9.41, beating the $8.09 consensus, on revenue of $52.04 billion. The company returned $887 million to shareholders in Q2, including $508 million in dividends and $379 million in buybacks. Shares have been on a tear, up 97.4% year to date through the September 3 close of $254.66.
Target: First Check at the New Rate
Target shareholders received $1.16 per share on September 1, the first payment at the higher rate. The prior three quarterly payments in this cycle were each $1.14 per share. The board declared this payment on June 11, 2026, and the stock went ex-dividend on August 12, 2026. So the raise itself was set months ago; September 1 was simply when the higher check arrived in the account.
Target’s Q2 report supported the payout. Adjusted EPS came in at $4.11 on revenue of $26.54B, with comp sales up 3.8% and digital comps up 8.7%. The company also raised its FY26 guidance. The share price is up 67.8% year to date and closed at $164.01 on September 3.
One pattern worth flagging, without turning it into a prediction: Target’s declaration history shows a recurring second-half-September announcement of a new quarterly rate for the December payment. The company declared $1.14 per share on September 17, 2025, $1.12 on September 18, 2024, $1.10 on September 20, 2023, and $1.08 on September 22, 2022. It is a pattern in past declaration dates. It is not a promise.
Wells Fargo: The Other First Check
Wells Fargo shareholders received $0.50 per share on September 1, up from $0.45 per share on the previous quarterly payment dated June 1, 2026. This was the first payment at the higher rate. The board declared the payment on July 28, 2026, and the stock went ex-dividend on August 7, 2026. The annualized forward dividend now stands at $2 per share.
The bank is running hot on capital return. Wells Fargo reported Q1 2026 EPS of $1.60 on revenue of $21.45 billion and returned $5.4 billion to shareholders in Q1 2026, including $4.0 billion in common stock buybacks. CEO Charlie Scharf said, “We returned $4 billion to shareholders through common stock repurchases while continuing to operate with significant excess capital.” The Federal Reserve asset cap was removed in 2025, and management set a new medium-term ROTCE target of 17% to 18%. Shares closed at $89.19 on September 3.
What a Quiet, Staggered Raise Actually Means for Income Investors
For a retiree who owns all three, September 1 was a working example of how these payouts actually flow: two of the three checks arrived at a higher per-share rate than the June payment, and a third continued a rate that was already lifted earlier in the year. The raises were declared weeks or months before the money moved, on very different corporate calendars, and they still landed on the same day. Owning a small basket of committed dividend payers smooths that out by design (the whole idea behind a dividend ladder built to run without ever selling a share, which we laid out in a free guide here). Watch the second half of September for Target’s next declaration, watch Phillips 66’s next board action for a signal on the 2027 rate, and take Wells Fargo’s larger check as confirmation that the post-asset-cap capital-return story is now cash in hand.
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Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.
Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.
Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.
Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.
