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

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given 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 by an average of 23.3% per year over the last three years. Hess has a payout ratio of 18.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $141.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.