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

by · The Markets Daily

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Sunday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on HES. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research raised Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.30.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Hess

Hess Stock Performance

HES opened at $142.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 1.15. Hess has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.86 and its 200-day moving average is $143.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hess will post 9.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares in the company, valued at $31,791,753.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hess

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,126,526 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,903,793,000 after purchasing an additional 294,146 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Hess by 4.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,098,012 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,194,619,000 after purchasing an additional 340,490 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Hess by 31.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Hess by 34.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,835,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,291,000 after purchasing an additional 726,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Hess by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $361,691,000 after purchasing an additional 150,945 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hess Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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