Outlook For VOC Energy Trust Remains Bullish
Crude oil prices were pretty depressed at the start of the year, with West Texas Intermediate trading at $57 per barrel. After the U.S. led war in Iran started in late February though, crude prices have been on fire.
By April of this year, crude prices had soared to more than $119 per barrel. The price of crude has pretty much followed progress or setbacks in Iran and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz since then. Crude oil is up 57% year to date, trading north of $90 per barrel.
Ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East has illustrated just how important it is to get oil from more politically stable countries and has put the spotlight on reliable domestic players like VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC).
VOC Energy Trust, which was formed by VOC Brazos Energy Partners, L.P. and is an oil & gas exploration and production (E&P) company that acquires and holds 80% of the net profits from the production and sale of interests in oil and natural gas properties in Kansas and Texas. (Source: “Form 10-K,” VOC Energy Trust, March 24, 2026.)
According to the most recent data, its underlying properties had interest in 703 gross producing wells and included 80,935 gross acres.
The company had proved reserves of approximately 1.73 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBoe). This includes 1.56 million barrels of total proved crude oil and 1.0 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas.
As of December 31, 2025, cumulatively, since inception, the Trust has received payment for approximately 7.7 MMBoe of the Trust’s 8.5 MMBoe interest.
Declares Distribution of $0.28 Per Unit
VOC Energy’s quarterly dividend payout is based on the net cash proceeds available for distribution. As a result, that number will change every quarter based on supply/demand and the price of oil and natural gas.
In the second quarter it sold 107,234 barrels of oil at a price of $94.81. Natural gas sales totaled 64,022 Mcf at $4.44 per Mcf. This resulted in total proceeds of $10.45 million with unitholders receiving a distribution of $4.76 million, or $0.28 per unit. (Source: “VOC Energy Trust Announces Trust Quarterly Distribution,” VOC Energy Trust, July 20, 2026.)
This works out to an annual distribution of $0.58 per unit for a forward annual dividend yield of 16.7%. The trailing annual dividend yield is 17.5%.
Again, the distribution is variable, in May it paid out a dividend of $0.10 per unit and $0.09 per unit in February. (Source: “Distribution History,” VOC Energy Trust, last accessed September 29, 2026.)
Typically, a high dividend yield is coupled with a stock that is underperforming; share price and yield have an inverse relationship. Fortunately for VOC shareholders, this is not the case. VOC stock is performing extremely well.
In late August, VOC stock hit a fresh 52 week high of $3.50 per share. It continues to trade near that level at $5.45 per share. This currently puts VOC stock up:
- 28% over the last three months
- 46% year to date
- 40% on an annual basis
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
The Lowdown on VOC Energy Trust
VOC Energy Trust is an Oil & Gas E&P play with a large interest in the net proceeds from oil and natural gas properties in oil rich Kansas and Texas. It continues to generate a lot of cash, which allows it to provide VOC Energy stockholders with a reliable quarterly payout.
Some quarters are more prosperous than others. Though that is to be expected in the Energy sector; especially when there’s a war in the Middle East. In February it paid out $0.09 per share and in August $0.28 per share. As a result, variable payouts are not right for every investor.
Though both retail and institutional investors must be happy with what’s going on with both VOC Energy’s share price and dividend payout right now.
Three of the biggest institutional holders in VOC Energy Trust are Marshall Wace LLP, 180 Wealth Advisors, LLC, and Morgan Stanley. (Source: “Holders,” Yahoo! Finance, last accessed September 29, 2026.)