Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives $170.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $170.50.

HES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 1.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 6.6% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Hess by 59.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Hess by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,673 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $133.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $139.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.94.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during 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 was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.