Hess (NYSE:HES) Downgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Overweight

BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) to an overweight rating in a research report released on Monday. They currently have $160.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock, down from their previous target price of $175.00.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HES. Wolfe Research began coverage on Hess in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Friday, July 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Hess from $166.00 to $151.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Hess from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $175.85.

Hess Trading Up 1.2 %

Hess stock opened at $138.18 on Monday. Hess has a 1 year low of $130.35 and a 1 year high of $167.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $144.86 and its 200-day moving average is $149.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 1.16.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.43% and a net margin of 21.22%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess will post 11.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Hess in the second quarter valued at $443,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,128 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Hess by 53.0% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 2,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Sculptor Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Hess by 188.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sculptor Capital LP now owns 765,542 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $112,933,000 after purchasing an additional 500,342 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Hess by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $361,691,000 after purchasing an additional 150,945 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.