Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Hess (NYSE:HES) Price Target to $151.00

Hess (NYSE:HES) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $171.00 to $151.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HES. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Hess from $165.00 to $157.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hess from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $165.15.

Hess Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $135.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.47. Hess has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $167.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hess will post 10.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Hess’s payout ratio is 30.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Hess by 1.6% during the second quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in Hess by 7.3% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Hess by 17.9% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 507 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Hess by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.