Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $177.42.

HES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 4,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total value of $680,400.16. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 125,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,161,828.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 581.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,342,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $358,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998,824 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,100,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,336,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $552,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,204 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after acquiring an additional 889,122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Up 1.2 %

HES opened at $156.23 on Tuesday. Hess has a 52 week low of $124.27 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.93. The firm has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Hess will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.89%.

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.