Hess Co. (HES) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on March 31st

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th.

Hess has increased its dividend by an average of 23.3% annually over the last three years. Hess has a payout ratio of 18.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of HES opened at $148.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $145.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.21. 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 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.