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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess (NYSE:HES) in a report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on HES. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.00.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $137.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.15. Hess has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 1.4% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 5,102 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Hess by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in Hess by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Hess by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 540 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Hess by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.