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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a research report report published on Friday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HES. Argus upgraded shares of Hess from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $171.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an equal weight rating and issued a $171.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Hess from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.06.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $144.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.36. Hess has a twelve month low of $113.82 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. Hess had a net margin of 14.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hess will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 18th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.72%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Barbara J. Lowery-Yilmaz sold 24,319 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.91, for a total value of $3,815,894.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 113,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,835,959.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hess

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HES. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $30,000. IMA Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 81.72% 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.