StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Hess (NYSE:HES)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on HES. Citigroup upped their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho increased their price target on Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Hess from $164.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.83.

Hess Stock Performance

HES opened at $147.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $152.63 and a 200-day moving average of $148.85. Hess has a 52-week low of $129.12 and a 52-week high of $167.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $1.43. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 36.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hess will post 10.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,042 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Hess by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 32,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,947,000 after buying an additional 2,121 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Hess by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Hess by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,043 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 2,391 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Hess by 165.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 59,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,143,000 after buying an additional 37,240 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.