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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research note issued to investors on Sunday. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HES. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $136.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $139.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.76. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $42.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309 over the last three months. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,054,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,767,000 after purchasing an additional 208,996 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,052,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 295.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,445,000 after buying an additional 62,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Hess by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 253,589 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,437,000 after buying an additional 30,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.