Hess Co. (HES) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 16th

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 4th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date 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% per year over the last three years. Hess has a payout ratio of 15.3% indicating that 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 NYSE:HES opened at $129.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.38. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $128.84 and a fifty-two week high of $167.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Hess will post 11.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HES shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Hess to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $175.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Hess from $151.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Eight 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, Hess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.46.

About Hess

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.