Hess (NYSE:HES) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a report published on Sunday. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HES. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Hess Trading Up 2.0 %

Hess stock opened at $138.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.62. Hess has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $42.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hess will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total value of $13,729,733.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last three months. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Hess by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hess by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 4,117 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 3.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 326,921 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,396,000 after buying an additional 10,738 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 330.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 262,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $35,623,000 after acquiring an additional 201,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Hess in the third quarter worth about $23,765,000. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.