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

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

HES has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Hess from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.30.

Hess Trading Up 0.3 %

HES stock opened at $146.76 on Tuesday. Hess has a 1-year low of $123.79 and a 1-year high of $163.98. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $140.00 and its 200-day moving average is $142.34. The firm has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 1.15.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Hess’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hess will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,914,927. This represents a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Hess in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Hess by 59.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hess by 47.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 273 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

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.