Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $170.60 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $170.60.

A number of research firms have issued reports on HES. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $152.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $145.75 and its 200 day moving average is $140.43. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Research analysts anticipate that Hess will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,408,117,000 after buying an additional 296,406 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Hess by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,521,499,000 after buying an additional 698,866 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P increased its holdings in Hess by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,237,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $962,715,000 after buying an additional 120,091 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $888,240,000 after buying an additional 158,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $511,325,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.