If you invested $10,000 in Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) one year ago, you would have around $10,900 today. If instead you had bought ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), you would have nearly $14,900. The same investment in Chevron (NYSE: CVX) would have netted you about $12,500. To understand why Devon Energy has lagged so far behind, you only need to look at the dividend.

Devon Energy has a huge yield of around 6.2% today. That compares favorably to Exxon and Chevron, which have dividend yields of 3.1% and 3.6%, respectively.

But Devon's yield was over 8% not too long ago. The stock price did shoot higher to push the yield lower (yield and stock price move in opposite directions), but the decline was a result of a lower dividend payout.

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Source Fool.com