Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Announces $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%.

Hess has increased its dividend payment by an average of 23.3% annually over the last three years. Hess has a dividend payout ratio of 18.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hess to earn $11.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.4%.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $141.43. 1,966,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,980,857. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.17 and a 200 day moving average of $139.79. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $43.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Research analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on HES. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Company Profile

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.