Hess (NYSE:HES) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on HES. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.42.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.05. Hess has a 52 week low of $124.27 and a 52 week high of $167.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.10.

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

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $390,348.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,433,050.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 13,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.08, for a total transaction of $2,103,184.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,073,417.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy B. Goodell sold 2,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.52, for a total transaction of $390,348.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 162,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,433,050.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166 in the last three months. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Hess by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 319 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 507 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,584 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,527 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.