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

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 payout ratio of 18.4% meaning 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 Price Performance

HES opened at $141.43 on Thursday. Hess has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $43.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.80. 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 (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. Research analysts predict that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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