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

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 1.40%. 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 18.4% 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $143.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. On average, equities analysts predict that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.