(NYSE: CVX) is a U.S.-based integrated energy company with a globally diversified business. It is one of the industry's biggest and best-known companies with two key distinctions being its financial strength and its growing dividend. So far in 2023, Chevron has been a laggard investment, but examining such a short period may not be the best way to evaluate performance.

If you invested $1,000 in Chevron at the start of 2023, it would now be worth just $865 or so. Even if you add in reinvested dividends, which is total return, the figure would be pretty tough to look at, at just over $880. Both of those figures lag behind what you would have if you had invested the same amount in the Vanguard Energy Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VDE), with the stock-only decline leaving you at roughly $910 and the total return improving that to $915.

While Chevron has clearly been a less-than-rewarding investment in the energy patch, it probably isn't the best idea to look at short-term performance when assessing this particular company. Indeed, with 36 years of annual dividend increases behind it and the lowest debt-to-equity ratio of its closest peers, Chevron is clearly built to reward investors over the long term. The goal of the company is to be a desirable investment through the energy cycle, not just in good or bad markets.

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Source Fool.com