StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Hess (NYSE:HES)

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

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hess from $192.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES opened at $146.94 on Monday. Hess has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $45.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.79.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hess will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $31,791,753.09. This represents a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hess

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HES. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hess by 39.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 13,955 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,130,000 after buying an additional 3,968 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Hess by 300.4% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,986 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the first quarter worth $933,000. Carlson Capital L P boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 15.6% in the first quarter. Carlson Capital L P now owns 633,767 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $96,738,000 after purchasing an additional 85,510 shares during the period. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP increased its stake in Hess by 337.0% during the 1st quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 24,318 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,712,000 after buying an additional 34,580 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.