Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $163.30 Consensus PT from Analysts

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.30.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hess from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $166.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 59.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 47.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the third quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Down 0.2 %

Hess stock opened at $141.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $135.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.47. The firm has a market cap of $43.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.