Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44.

Hess has increased its dividend payment by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years. Hess has a dividend payout ratio of 15.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Hess to earn $12.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.75 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.0%.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $129.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,583,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,271,672. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $39.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 1.15. Hess has a one year low of $128.84 and a one year high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. Hess’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hess will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on HES shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price target on Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.46.

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.