Matador Resources Company MTDR announced its intent to increase its quarterly dividend to 10 cents per share, representing a 100% hike from 5 cents initiated last October.

The company expects the board of directors to implement the raised dividend with its next quarterly distribution, which is expected in the third quarter of this year.

The prime priorities, which Matador has set for this year, are lowering debt, delivering significant free cash flows and maintaining or increasing dividends.

The change in the company’s dividend policy reflects its enhanced financial and operational ability. The increment in the quarterly dividend represents Matador’s strong focus on returning capital to stockholders. Along with its aim to return capital to stockholders, the company focuses on paying down its debt.

Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Matador is an independent energy company that explores, develops, produces and acquires oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s upstream operations are mainly concentrated in the Delaware Basin, which is among the country’s most prolific oil and gas plays. Matador identified up to 4,381 gross potential drilling locations on its Delaware Basin acreage, making its production outlook bright.

Matador currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the energy space are Enterprise Products Partners EPD, Oasis Petroleum OAS and Valero Energy Corporation VLO. All companies currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Enterprise Products Partners is among the leading midstream energy players in North America. EPD is also well positioned to generate additional cash flow from under-construction growth capital projects worth $4.6 billion.

Enterprise Products Partners is strongly committed to returning cash to shareholders. The partnership’s board of directors increased its cash distribution to 46.5 cents per unit, suggesting a 3.3% hike from the previous dividend of 45 cents.

Oasis Petroleum is an independent explorer that engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas resources. OAS exited Chapter 11 Bankruptcy sometime back with a clean balance sheet. The company has managed to wipe out $1.8 billion in debt, and now the figure stands at less than $400 million.

Oasis Petroleum’s quality asset base and balance sheet strength will support free cash flow generation and, consequently, shareholder returns. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of 58.5 cents ($2.34 annualized), while it recently completed a $100-million share repurchase program.