Hess (NYSE:HES) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on HES. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of HES opened at $142.99 on Thursday. Hess has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.17.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hess will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,914,927. This trade represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 58.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P raised its stake in Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Hess by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.